Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Not Quite An Apology

If no-one tells me to stop, I'm going to keep doing this.

Gli Occhi Devono Avere Loro Parte


No-one stuffed my mouth with gold:
Something glib, something easy, escaped instead;
No-one sighs, and I sigh back.

No-one shut my eyes with silver:
Something shadowed, something beyond, was seen;
No-one glanced, and I glanced back.

I only did what came naturally,
The second cigarette, quick, eager,
Riding the back of the first.

There should be more of a confession here.
The eyes must have their part;
If that’s what you want, and a quick laugh.

No-one gilded my eyes with lead
Or stuffed my mouth with rags.
I hoped and no-one looked back,
Reached and fell slowly away.

It was a winter count
Snow that fell snow upon snow,
Oubliettes, like dust on the wind,
An accumulation of increments, infinite.

5 comments:

Phil said...

That'll be gli occhi.

Rob Jubb said...

So it will. This is what happens when you don't speak or write Italian regularly any more, I suppose.

El said...

Like you spoke and wrote Italian regularly before? Have you even done classes? You know the Language centre offers them for free?

Rob Jubb said...

I didn't speak or write much Italian ever, but I did speak and write it fairly regularly. The Language Centre seem to have some vendetta - see what I've done there? - against me; whenever I try to sign up for courses (by email; you have to do it by email), they totally ignore me.

El said...

I actually got on my bike and went there, and although they didn't offer me the course I applied for they did offer me a more relevent one slightly later in the term. I know it's in North Oxford but you could combine it with a trip to see the leafy suburbs now it's sunny