The Crow

Poetry

A poem by Meeten Nasr.

Crow by JBJart

A flickering of feathers
on the cupboard
in the bedroom.
How many times
at night articulating to
my image
in the mirror
was I wondering obstinate
if the fleeting
of time, the hammering
of the horns, of the engines,
that bustling
of humans in the midst of shouts
and ambulance sirens
eventually by force
would have prevailed
in compelling us
into the threshold of
so much
nothingness.

“Never” the crow
then croaked.

So goodbye, dear me,
a passing cloud,
leave the shelter
of my body
speechless voice
melt down at early dawn,
black glare.

Translation from Italian by Suha – illustration by Justyna Jaszke JBJart – society6.com

Original (Italian)

Il corvo

Sfarfallìo di penne sull’armadio
in camera da letto. Quante volte
di notte sillabando alla mia immagine
allo specchio insistente mi chiedevo
se il tempo che trascorre, il martellare
dei clacson, dei motori, quel brusìo
degli umani fra strepiti e sirene
di ambulanze alla fine per forza
avrebbero prevalso costringendo
noi sulle soglie di tanta nullità.
“Giammai!” gracchiava allora il corvo.

Dunque addio, mio io, nuvola passeggera,
lascia l’asilo del mio corpo, spenta voce,
sciogliti al far dell’alba, nero abbaglio.

Meeten

Meeten (1929-2019) was a poet, publisher and director of an Italian poetry magazine.

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