Poetry and Translation – Page 30 – Bonnie McClellan-Broussard

Caulonian Suite: II. Caulonia Supriore

CAULONIA SUPERIORE

for Matthew

The sky roils;

swallows knit webbed gyres

among the baroque sag of rooftops.

Across the way they’re fixing one;

new russet barrel tiles sealed over

old timber bones.

I hear a sound like the pounding

Of a battering ram or the cleaving

Of an immense stump

Contrapunted with a loud HUP.

My daughter sleeps with the abandon

of an unfettered shutter swinging in a stiff wind.

A woman in her fifties climbs the stairs

to the house where she and my daughter

were both conceived.

We regard each other with

that part of the eye

which admits an alternate aim.

The pounding stops.

The church bells go off

with the percussive invective

of a fire alarm

DANGATIDANGATIDANGDANGDANG.

They say it’s peculiar to here:

someone sounds the bell

not with the pull of a knotted rope

but with the unlevered force of arms.

This is the second in a suite of poems about Caulonia Supiore

Via Clivio

the tile lined roof on the last villa

of the petty nobles of this town

sags like the jaw line of a matron.

her voice sings out

a spinster’s peevish tweet:

“VERGOGNA! VERGOGNA!”

she:

(distant falling daughter of whatever local saint–

though aren’t we all?)

shames her poor dog.

he of:

nothing to do but go mad with barking;

jamesian psycosis

closed shutters

infinite empty rooms.

Series I : Polyvalence : context is everything

Series I : polyvalence* : context is everything

Burial at Sea

WAKE

Speaking Truth toPower/The Admonitions Scroll

STAY

CURRENT

Morning Shift

CHANGE

SIMPLE DRESS

MOVE

*pol·y·va·lent (pŏl’ē-vā’lənt)
adj.

Acting against or interacting with more than one kind of antigen, antibody, toxin, or microorganism.
Chemistry
1. Having more than one valence.
2. Having a valence of 3 or higher.

3. (fig.) having many different functions, forms, or facets.

IPM 2MX…Where have all the poems gone?

International Poetry Month 2010 is now closed. The marauding hordes left the library ablaze, the flood washed away the ashes, the caravan carrying the last copy of the precious poetry collection has vanished in the desert.

What remains is the oral tradition; I have made audio files of each poem available where the poem used to be posted. There is also the possibility that a copy of some of these works still exist in the archives of the poets themselves. Anyone who is on my e-mail list has a ‘fragment’ of each work. Perhaps, like the poems of Sappho, this is all that will remain.

I would like to extend my profound thanks to the following guest poets for their contributions:

Anonymous 21st cent. Italian Poet

Adina Richman

Jere Schaefer

Several of these poets have blogs where new poetry may be encountered. I encourage anyone suffering from poetry withdrawal to visit these sites by clicking on any of the names that appear in colour.

Thanks as well to everyone who has stopped by to read and comment on the posted work. It has been a real joy to present so much fine poetry this year. Now I have to start thinking about next year, and as my sweetheart reminded me this morning, get back to writing.

A presto!