ESTER CECERE

ESTER CECERE

UNDERTOW

I won the storm

by a fragile boat

which bring my family to shore.

I still feel the wind among the shrouds,

the fearful sinking of the bow

and its difficult reascent.

Now everything is calm,

but the undertow

slowly breaking over the shore

sometimes tells me about you.

Risacca

La burrasca ho vinto

con un’esile barca

che a riva portasse i miei cari.

Sento ancora il vento fra le sartie,

l’angoscioso inabissarsi della prua

e l'incerto risalire.

Ora che tutto è calma,

la risacca che lenta s’infrange

ogni tanto mi parla di te.

PRUNING

I pruned my life

by resolute shears.

I lopped dead

and stunted branches.

Only healthy shoots

will brings fruits.

Since season is droughty

and arid is the soil.

Potatura

La mia vita ho potato

con cesoie decise.

I rami secchi

e quelli stenti

ho tagliato.

Solo sani germogli

frutti porteranno.

Ché siccitosa è la stagione

e arida la terra.

THE RAFT

Only the remains

of my boat

casted ashore.

With them I will build a raft

to sail

with the essentials on board.

(from: “Come foglie in autunno” (“Like leaves in autumn”),

Edizioni Tracce, Pescara, 2012)

La zattera

Della mia barca

solo i resti

a riva sono giunti.

Ne farò una zattera

per navigare

con a bordo l’essenziale.

I WILL NOT LEAVE THE COCOON

I will not leave the cocoon

which is shelter from illusion and hypocrisy.

I will not turn into a butterfly

to fall prey to winds and cobwebs.

Nor will I sacrifice myself

for silk threads

which flowing dress

my melancholy.

(from: “Fragile. Maneggiare con cura” (“Fragile. Handle with care””),

Kairòs Edizioni, Napoli, 2014)

Non uscirò dal bozzolo

Non uscirò dal bozzolo,

dall'illusione e dall'ipocrisia

rifugio.

Non diventerò farfalla,

preda di venti e ragnatele.

Né m'immolerò

per fili di seta

che morbidi vestano

la mia malinconia.

ESTER CECERE

ESTER CECERE was born in Taranto on 30/4/1958, where she lives and works as a researcher at the National Council of Research, marine biology department. She is married and has two children. She is author of five poetry books: - “Burrasche e Brezze” (“Storms and Breezes”), which is her debut work in literary field (Il Filo, Rome, 2010) - “Come foglie in autunno” (“As leaves in Autumn“) with preface by Ninnj Di Stefano Busà (Ed. Tracce, Pescara, 2012) - “Fragile. Maneggiare con cura” (“Fragile. Handle with care”) with preface by Nazario Pardini (Kairos Ed., Naples, 2014) - “ con l’India negli occhi, con l’India nel cuore”  (“with India in the eyes, with India in the heart”) (WIP Ed., Bari, 2016) - “Non vedo, non sento e…” (“I do not see, I do not hear and...”) with preface by Marina Pratici (WIP Ed., Bari, 2017) and a collection of tales “Istantanee di vita” (“Snapshots of life”) (Kairos Ed., Naples, 2015), which is her narrative debut. This collection was translated into German and published in a bilingual book (Italian-German) under the title of  “Überschneidungen”, VoG Verlag ohne Geld e.K, Monaco-München, 2018. Several Italian poets and literary critics have expressed their favorable opinion on her works. She published, on invitation, in numerous international anthologies of various authors also for charity purposes and also writes for several literary journals. Her works also appear in various prizes anthologies. She gives the proceeds of the sale of her books to charity. Web site: www.estercecere.weebly.com