Journal of Italian Translation

Barbara Carle / Alfredo De Palchi
I give in to the terror
so that I can clash with the burst
against a fabric store window that reflects me
livid from torture
and rage inducing me
to slaughter with crucifix blades
gravediggers who’ve been slighting each other
since 1945 acting in chairs
and in piles of lying books—I say
give in,
but still here
I mean that I’m confronting those vile men
as I eye the parabellum searing my legs
nimbly as it did then on the 27 th of April
1945.
(27 April 2004)
83