Khan
by Rosella Fusco
English translation by Justin Vitiello
Khan
To possess you On lightning rods In those noontide hours…
with defiant bird thrust against the unconscious sun… |
Khan
Possederti sul parafulmine di una casa al mare
nella ore del mezzogiorno
con l’uccello spavaldo contro l’ignaro sole.
|
Poet: Rossella Fusco was born in Itri, Italy in 1961. A psychotherapist with a passion for the arts, she has
published numerous collections of poetry, including Non trovo lacrime (I Cannot Find the Tears, 1986),
Cabala (Cabala, winner of the Portico d’Onofrio award, 1994), Principe delle fiabe (Prince of Fairy
Tales, 2000), and Via Canto del gelso (Through the Voice of the Mulberry, 2008): I - All’albeggiare
della nona luna (At the Dawn of the Ninth Moon), II - Tutte le sere diversa è la luna (Every Evening
the Moon is Different), III - Con l’ultima luna di maggio (With the Last Moon in May). She has also edited Cinquantadue falò e un tango solitario (Fifty-Two Bonfires and a Solitary Tango, 1998). Her work has appeared in various anthologies as well, including Quando il poeta è donna (When the Poet is a Woman).
Her art-therapy publications include Figli del Dio del Mare (Children of the God of the Sea, 2000).
The poem “Khan” originally appeared in the Paterson Literary Review in 1997 and is reprinted here with
the author’s permission.
Translator:
Justin Vitiello, Professor Emeritus of Italian, taught for many years at Temple in both Philadelphia
and Rome. A poet and translator working primarily in English, Italian and Spanish, he has translated texts between
all of these languages in addition to Latin, Italian dialects, and French. His published collections include Il carro del pesce di Vanzetti (1989), subsequently translated as Vanzetti’s Fish Cart (1993); Subway Home (1994),
translated into Italian in 1998; Suicidio di un poeta etnico / Suicide of an Ethnic Poet (2004); and Amapolas
y cardos / Poppies and Thistles (2006).