SPECULATING AT WIMPOLE ¹

Down the dirt paths, sunlight
rages like a mad bull—
My head endures its blows,
while in this existence
it fails to grasp a point
or boundaries or depth.
Walking through the ruthless
nature, fatigue trickles
down my face. Pores exude
a certain doubt—what if
couples are not equipped
to face shared misfortune.
My pace accelerates,
determined to arrive
at a shady wisdom—
Grief feeds on vital strength,
with none left for lugging
the crosses of others.
Inside the dense woods, far
away from discoloured
tints and sheep excrement,
my investigating
God’s creation becomes
silent for an instant.
Tender love prevails for
the little thing whose sleep
has already expired—
In this waiting of blood
my body preserves it,
like a coffin of flesh.

1 Wimpole is a large parkland near Cambridge (UK).

IF YOU COME TO BARTON WOODLAND ²

Take the narrow path, peopled
by those who arrive and leave
before the end of a day—
Beneath a dust of neglect
lies the wooden petiteness
of roaring existences.
Read their weedy histories,
they don’t speak about boredom
in the shade of horse chestnuts—
The soft toys exchange advice
on how best to do the bridge,
a cartwheel or somersaults.
Those single dates are longing
to join the local choir and
sing at every village fair—
Crayoned names claim their right to
have a go at hide-and-seek
or chase each other downhill.
When you turn to walk away,
the sheer nonsense of it all
will brutally grab your throat—
In that wrestle for a breath,
you will resort to hoping
for some kind of miracle.

2 Barton Woodland is a natural burial ground located to the West of Cambridge (UK).

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A linguist by passion, training and trade, Antonietta Bocci has spent her adult life in a diasporic space stretching across four countries and three continents, working as a teacher, translator and interpreter. She writes dual-language poetry (in her native Italian and her adoptive English), in a process whereby the two versions engage in mutual contamination, rather than one simply being the rendering of the other. Since 2020 her poems have been published in literary magazines and blogs in Italy, United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.