Friday, December 6, 2013

Francesco Politano e la sua poesia

Francesco Politano from Amantea, Calabria, is my cousin’s husband. He is a poet, essayist, teacher for over thirty years. As a poet, he has received a number of awards, and has published several books of poems. The following are the titles of some of his books:’ Il rumore del silenzio’; ‘Le parole, gli anni’; ‘Nel bosco dei palazzo’; ‘ Nell’atelier del cuore’; ‘ Il fruscio delle cose’. His poems have been translated into Spanish, French, and English.

Francesco’s last book has been published in both Italian and Spanish. The titles are: ‘Il fruscio delle cose’ in Italian, and ‘El murmullo de las cosas’ in Spanish. My interpretation of the title is ‘The Whispering Of Things’.

In this last book he has included a poem dedicated to me, and one dedicated jointly to my husband and a cousin in Italy.

In his poems Francesco looks for meanings beyond the superficiality of things/people, tries to find the roots/core of meaning. He looks for ties between present and past, youth and old age, animals and inanimate objects, internal and external situations. His verses are usually narrative and descriptive, characterized by conciseness.

1. Poem dedicated to me, in Italian, Spanish, and English. The English version is my rendition, hopefully the author will forgive me if I missed the gist of the poem.

La Cugina Americana

“E’la fantasia piu’ grande
La realta’ della vita”,
nel suo blog la cugina americana
dice agli antichi e ai nuovi amici.

La Prima Americana

“La fantasia mas grande es
La realidad de la vida”,
dice en su blog la prima americana
a los antiguos y a los nuevos amigos.

The American Cousin

“The biggest fantasy is
That life is real”
Writes the American cousin in her blog
To old and new friends.

2. Poem dedicated to my husband and our cousin Carmelo:

Fred e Carmelo

Fred e Carmelo, fotoartisti d’oggi.
Respingono il banale
Cercano d’afferare
Il profondo splendore delle cose.

My translation into English:

Fred and Carmelo

Fred and Carmelo, today’s photo artists.
They reject the ordinary
Attempting to grasp
The profound splendor of things.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH COUSINS FRANCESCO AND MARIA. FRANCESCO, YOU HONOR US WITH YOUR BEAUTIFUL VERSES. WISHING YOU LOTS OF SUCCESS WITH THIS NEW BOOK.