Happy Summer!

Apollo with lyre

In celebration of the summer solstice, or midsummer, I would like to share a poem by Vittorio Clemente from Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy: Texts and Criticism (A Trilingual Anthology) edited by Luigi Bonaffini, Legas, 1997, p.38. The accompanying photo of Apollo was taken at The Naples National Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli) during my 2010 visit to Napoli. In addition to being the god of music, poetry and prophecy, Apollo was, of course, the god of the sun.

Bliss

Golden days of summer, facing the sun,
facing the sea, delighted, and content.
Days spent eavesdropping on the wind,
mindful of words whispered in secret.

Words I'd unravel; listening, alone,
for the voice of the world, the nothing beyond,
alone, while my nimble heart took flight
for untold trysts and destinations.

Perhaps for the very edge of the world,
where Our Lady of the Mariners
trims white roses in the morning.

And to find myself here, again, eyes
like a boy's, quick and bright, seeing, upon
the lace of waves, roses ride to shore...

(Translated by Anthony Molino)