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

Paul D’Agostino / Roberto Pazzi
UNPUBLISHED
Changes
Today I am what I might well be,
a white slip of paper
fallen to the ground
in the waiting room of the station.
The question, How much longer?
has now changed to
How far along have I come?
I imitate the hourglass,
flipping myself over and over,
empty and full,
black and white,
losing weight
I have become lighter yet.
Verses on Evil
Clarity makes Good of Evil,
the heroic awareness
to attempt an act that is
parallel to life, chosen by us,
contrary to nature and counter-current,
a land left out of cartographies,
a land that is ours alone.
That which illumines Evil
is the flash of eternity in our yes,
I know what you are,
indeed, I make no mistake,
I want you because I recognize you.
So it is that with Good a stranger and
vaster liberty is fulfilled,
as it’s discovered anew like
feelings of nostalgia for another Ithaca,
driven from Circe’s warm embrace
out toward the open sea,
evading the land of Evil.
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