In this installment, we're featuring the poetry of Giuseppantonio Cristofaro, native of Ripabottoni, Campobasso province, Molise.
Iè u tèmp' d' kièndà u rèndini(e)
Di Giuseppantonio Cristofaro
I ch'rash' r'sh'lé:(je)n'
'mmè:z' di frònn' l'ch'cu(e)jènt'
è 'll'uokki(e) m' z' kiud'n'.
A l'p'nèll' a méss' u p'nnakki(e)…
Pok' d'kkuà da fratt',
'mmèz' da kakkiètór'
d' nu p'd'léll' d' sèmmuk(e)
i kèrdill' z'ann' fatt' u nid',
tutt'i vò:t' k' pass'
i véd' eccu(e)zzè:t'.
M' tèmend'n' kindè v'léss'n' dich':
- Lass'ch' 'n pach'…
'Nnu vid' k' fèchém' a mamm'?
Nu str'ppa:r' Sp'rtéll'
K'mènz' è kèntà:
- Cucù.
- Cucù.
- Cucù!
Rispnn' u cucùl' du shtr'ppa:r' Nètièll',
du shtr'ppa:r' d' Jak'vèntuóni(e),
du shtr'ppà:r du Mèglian'…
Sott' a massèri(je) nn'ré(je) a mèjés'.
- M'k'lì, kant' u cucù.
- Tuòll' u p'zzuk' è jèm' a métt' u rèndin'(je)
- Oh, Mèdònnè mi(je)!
- N'ach'n a vòt', N'ach'n a vòt'…
Mò vè k' f'nim'.
- Cucù.
- Cucù.
- Cucù!
Z' sonn' sv'glièt' tutt' k' na vot', a d'spiètt'.
E M'k'li:n':
- Visht' mò tù!
- Nu chièll' sfat'ièt' m'à:dè mènnà a kièntà u rèndin'(je).
It is time to plant the corn
By Giuseppantonio Cristofaro
The cherries redden
between shiny leaves
and my eyes close.
The sainfoin has grown its plume.
A little beyond the hedge,
in the middle of the fork
of a little elderberry tree
the goldfinches have made a nest.
Each time I pass
I see them crouching.
They look at me as if they want to say:
Leave us in peace… Don’t you see that we’re being mothers?
In the "Sportella" brush begins the singing:
- Cuckoo.
- Cuckoo.
- Cuckoo!
The cuckoo from the Nètièll'’s brush responds,
the one from Giacovantonio’s brush,
the one from the Magliana brush…
Down by the farmhouse the fallow land is blackening.
- Michelino, the cuckoo is singing.
- Grab the dibble and let’s go plant the corn.
- Oh, Madonna mia!
- a grain at a time, a grain at a time…
- Now it is coming that we’ve finished…
- Cuckoo.
- Cuckoo.
- Cuckoo!
They’ve all woken up at once, for spite.
And Michelino:
Now you see!
A lazy bird must send me off to plant the corn.
Translated by Cav. Charles Sant’Elia
* Self-published in 2010, Meridiunalata/Southernade is a treasury of poems gleaned from Cav. Sant'Elia's previous collections (Nchiuso dint''o presente, 'A cuntrora, and 'O pino e l'éllera), which were circulated among friends in New York City and Naples. Special thanks to Cav. Sant'Elia for allowing us to reprint his poetry and translations.
