Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHITE ON WHITE, by MARIA LUISA SPAZIANI


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHITE ON WHITE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The nocturnal honey that glides down from the flanks of the pincio hill


The nocturnal honey that glides down from the flanks of the Pincio hill
ruffles through and messes up my distant nebulosities,
it shakes out defunct flags and pollinates against all hope
the image-ideas that have your name as their coat-of-arms.

As for you, my troubled symphony, my leprosy-corroded fresco,
drink in this silent orgy, I tell you, face up to confession.
Were you ever alive, were you ever real, did you ever draw a breath?
Could dogs have bitten you, did you ever drink the waters of this earth?

Everything is white on white, ghost, legend, or madness,
fata morgana, Hamlet, the delirium of a feverish twenty-year-old.
Your body leaves no more shadow than the March wind,
and you leave footprints on my heart lighter than a doe's.


Used by permission of Story Line Press.




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net