By Marina Massenz
Translated by Johanna Bishop
We came out of the box only
this morning joints and reflexes clack
clack all rusty getting into gear
slowly but surely in full operation
now the vast sheet is spread
to gather the debris, the demolitions
carried out over time the once-house
tying the four ends and pulling tight
like the handkerchief with four
coins stowed in the pocket still
operative in the worn trousers
gone slack from too much time gone by
like the legs sort of withered now
but the key thing is to carry through
the cleanup operation tote the debris
to the specialized disposal site care
required utmost expertise
caution do not insert in containers
not specifically intended for the purpose
caution no mistakes follow instructions
and meanwhile fend off the greed of phony
patrons on the lookout for something
snaffling here and there one hand
washes the other that’s what they say.
Marina Massenz, based in Milan, is the author of the collections Nomadi, viandanti, filanti (Amadeus, 1995) and La ballata delle parole vane (L’Arcolaio, 2011). Her poetry and prose poetry has appeared in Accordi, Inverso, Qui – appunti dal presente, Il monte analogo, Poliscritture, Le voci della luna, and Vents Alizés, and in the online journals La poesia e lo spirito, Poesia da fare, and Nazione indiana. She is also one of Italy’s leading psychomotricity practitioners and has published three books in her field.
Johanna Bishop has been a full-time translator since 2004, primarily of books on contemporary art. Her poetry translations have been published by Guernica Editions (“For the Maintenance of Landscape” by Mia Lecomte, with Brenda Porster), and by TheFLR, Italian Poetry Review, and Journal of Italian Translation. She lives near Florence.
