Road Trip

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I do not know 

The captain of this ship

If we are in Italy or Switzerland

Why only the foreground is clear

Whether it is better to be alone 

Or how it feels sometimes, that 

We are not even here. 

M.Q.

Photographs by Chandler Kennedy

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[Io ero un uccello]
 

Io ero un uccello 
dal bianco ventre gentile, 
qualcuno mi ha tagliato la gola 
           per riderci sopra, 
           non so. 
Io ero un albatro grande 
e volteggiavo sui mari. 
Qualcuno ha fermato il mio viaggio, 
senza nessuna carità di suono. 
Ma anche distesa per terra 
io canto ora per te 
le mie canzoni d'amore. 

[As for me,
I used to be a bird]

As for me, I used to be a bird 
with a gentle white womb, 
someone cut my throat 
           just for laughs, 
           I don't know. 
As for me, I used to be a great albatross 
and whirled over the seas. 
Someone put an end to my journey, 
without any charity in the tone of it. 
But even stretched out on the ground 
I sing for you now 
my songs of love. 

Alda Merini

From Love Lessons: Selected Poems of Alda Merini

Translated by Susan Stewart

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