ELISABETTA BAGLI

ELISABETTA BAGLI

SNAKES

I cannot see where I am

nor do I know where I'm going.

I know that I come from a nearby place

Where, kneeling, I have admired life.

All I see is marshes and puddles,

I sense the strong smell of mud,

While some snakes, slimy and binding,

Enchain my ankles.

Their jaws dispense poison

As a tonic on my skin.

I do not seek the mystery of immortality,

Now I live as ancient warrior

Among stinging oaks and regretful exploiters.

FEAR

I pass along the corridors

Of your mind,

Where you are hiding,

Frightened by loneliness,

The companion of your days

Populated by disdainful ghosts

That pull out your eyes.

Blind, you no longer wear

The smile of dreams,

Given away to the barren land

That ran through the fingers

Of a destiny

Shaped by you.

Now you enact your fear

To be alone.

STONES

Petrified tears

Now on the worn-out skin

Of one who knows

That he has been lost the sun

And is now waiting for his own corpse

To make a toast in the eternal night

Dampened by the earth.

ELISABETTA BAGLI