Journal of Italian Translation - Brooklyn College - Academic Home ...

Michael Palma / Maurizio Cucchi
about the gears or what might be inside.
But luckily I’m not him anymore,
that pasty-faced and rawboned kid,
and my salvation has been selfishness.
* * *
Mauro still possessed
the drawn face,
the smooth skin and the sturdy body of
an athlete. Whether in a sweatsuit
or a pair of hospital pajamas,
he pointed out to me a colored atlas
on the wall. I thought the cavities
were immense
viscous vacuities
but what they really are is a sponge
or a pulpy mass. And yet
all so marvelous and perfect,
on a structure strongly vertebrate
but bloody nonetheless, compressed
in its economy in a vertiginous
exponential growth.
* * *
Skin or bowel, be that as it may, it doesn’t change.
Every specimen, unique and unrepeatable,
is obtained only in well-defined geographical areas.
In warmer regions we turn out more savory.
In cooler regions we tend as a rule to be sweet.
The quality of the meat, when it’s suitable,
presents an even clear red coloration,
a solid texture and a surface that’s not
aqueous when it’s cut.
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