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Far, in the Night

By Linh Dinh
Originally Published: April 29, 2008

Lontano, nella notte, oltre la morte

sopra una stella azzurra
tra esistenze meravigliose
ancora quest'anima convulsa
nelle sue insoffribili vergogne
esasperanti
senza scampo, per tutto l'universo
dove dovró passare
e il pensiero che infine, nella luce
suprema soffriró ancora il tormento
di non aver urlato
che tanto era inutile.
O forse questa vita
è la sola concessa
e allora mi esaspera, mi taglia il respiro,
il pensiero di non aver urlato,
per la mia anima vile,
confuso a tutti i poveri impotenti
che marciscono sulla terra.

I translate:

Far, in the night, beyond death

above a blue star
among marvelous existences
again this convulsive soul
with its insufferable shames
exasperating
with no escape, in all the universe
where I will have to pass through
and the thought that in the end, in the supreme
light I will suffer again the torment
of not having screamed
that so much was useless.
Or perhaps this life
is the only one granted
and so it’ll exasperate me, shorten my breath,
the thought of not having screamed,
for my debased soul,
mixed with all the impotent poor
who march on earth.

[A Nuovi Autori video, directed by Andrea Galli, with photography by Bernardo Bertolucci and music by Andrea Galli.]
[Click here for more Pavese poetry online.]

Linh Dinh was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1963, came to the U.S. in 1975, and has also lived in Italy...

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