Journal of Italian Translation

Adria Bernardi/Raffaello Baldini
you can’t wait here any longer, but where can you go?
enough, whatever’s going to happen will happen,
that little table, I’ve extended my arm, come on, come on,
if I can reach it, I’m touching the marble ledge
with my feet, I’ve been here for awhile straddling
between a table and chair, if I slip
I’m done for, I’m balancing, then this impulse,
I’ve tilted my arms a little, I’ve righted myself,
I’ve done it, steady, and then there’s clapping,
which scared the living daylights out of me, I wasn’t expecting that,
who’s the applause for anyway?
for me? then I saw them, everyone,
tons of people, someone with gold teeth,
no, they’re laughing, can’t you hear? bursts of laughter,
slapping their thighs, elbowing each other,
they were doubled over, you could see their shoulders quaking,
wiping off tears with an arm,
but then, there were shrieks and catcalls, women
with their heads thrown back, even the necklaces were convulsing
with laughter,
some were all splayed out, completely disheveled,
they started coughing, they were choking with laughter,
a little boy standing in the aisle
was watching me, they are laughing at me,
I got dizzy, too much of a din,
it was all flickering, I raised my hand:
be quiet, someone yelled out: “Silence in the hall!”
someone else: “Speak up,” what’s going on with them?
“Speech!” are they all insane? “We’re all waiting Four Eyes!”
I don’t dare say a word, plus, what can I tell them?
“You’re the Boss, you tell us,” all right, be quiet then, “Here, folks,
whoever can,
you should get up and go home,” you could hear snickering,
“It’s nothing to laugh about, you don’t believe me? look,
no, look at me, up here, at me, don’t you see me?”
from one row they heckled: “Projector! He’s all out of focus!”
it was worse than before, now they were hoarse,
with flushed faces, and over there?
what’s that rumbling?
it’s like it’s boiling, plus it’s risen, it’s a gush,
it was the hole, it had filled up below,
it was spouting up again,
and then something broke, this isn’t happening, it was
like when they open the sluice at the millstream,
it went down, but a river rises, screams,
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