As/Is







5.19.2008


Ungaretti: Vigil (Veglia)


Giuseppe Ungaretti


Vigil (Veglia)

All night
lying sprawled
near a killed
comrad
and his contorted
mouth
turned towards
the full moon
and his flushed
hands
inside
my silence
I wrote letters
full of love

I never became
so attached
to my life

Cima Quattro, december 1915
translated by G. Monte; many thanks to Annie Huth.
Picture: Guido Monte, Oltre (2007)