by Federico Ferrario
Then we had been forgotten.
The tide came and went
with the strength of millions of lives.
On breaking, it consumed the land
and sent up the first chimneys
blackening the windows
and the rain with coal;
all that it changed
it squeezed into the hard,
compact red of the bricks;
the roads, the docks of the river, the wood workshops
now plants, factories of wheels,
power and steel.
On receding
it took back everything: the workers and machines,
the youngsters and the dance-halls,
the picks of the warring strikers
and the labor day bunting,
leaving on these slimy banks,
where the waves of the Rouge,
hypnotic and oily, lap
rock and lull
the city like a huge reef
of spectres.
Then we had been forgotten
As if we had come from another country
not knowing the language only to discover
how ours lacked certain words
and that they were new,
learnt at such a high price or bloody,
and were difficult to say.
Of all words, the most significant.
And it shan’t be us
to ask what became of the world
when the fields blend into scrub,
rice and nettles, grain and brambles,
on the roads brittle with ice,
the children shall not play
until supper-time,
no longer shall there be
old folk at the windows
or on the porches enjoying the daylight,
a smoke or a word with a passer by,
nobody shall walk along the road
reading a just purchased paper
no letter
shall travel from far to our addresses.
The land and the glaciers
shall be infants once again;
and the rivers will be different, their voice
shall not reveal enlightenments
but steep incest,
torrents upon other torrents,
rapids were plains used to be.
Seas and oceans shall raise
walls around shores, in already conquered lands;
seasons shall resume
their brief cycle, deep marine currents
shall bring new songs
and new deserts. New borders
and new gulfs
burying those ancient elsewhere.
And it shan’t be us.
(English translation by Lisa J. Francescon)
Meet the Author: Federico Ferrario.
I am sci fi and fantasy writer, on my debut novel with “The Dragon Sellers”.
I currently live in Milan, Italy, where I wrote three more novels and a book of poems, which still have to be translated into English.
I keep poetry in my heart and philosophy on my tongue (unfortunately, the brain is empty).
I love Jack Vance, Česlav Milosz, and i hate broccoli (so glad that i don’t like them, coz broccoli really sucks).
I am a star lover and a cosmist philosopher, the last of my kind.
Connect with Federico Ferrario:
If you want to learn more about my work, you’re welcome to visit my website fedegferrario.com
You can also connect with me on your favorite social media platform:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FG-Ferrario
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fedeferscifi
- Tumblr: http://rossum-universal.tumblr.com
Don’t forget to check out The Dragon Seller!
As the Drought of the Century hits the United States, legendary creatures appear on Earth: Dragons.
Like one of the famous commercials says: “Thanks to advancements in genetic engineering, Dragons are finally out of myth, and in your local pet stores!”
From playful Outbacks to unpredictable jade Tangs, these little dragons usually don’t burn much, they love fruit and don’t molest young virgins.
But they are still monsters, and Jack Ports knows this very well.
He sells all kinds of varieties in his Flight Garden, including the most dangerous of all: the American Mustang, a species of battle dragon created by a failed experiment of the U.S. Navy.
Dumped by his fiancee before the wedding and short on cash, Jack just wants to put his life back together, but after a colleague mysteriously disappears, he finds himself with a dragon egg of unknown origins.
Set on raising it, Jack discovers that the egg contains a primus, the first dragon of a new species, whose genes hide a secret that many men are looking for.
And some are willing to kill to have it.
You can read a sample of The Dragon Seller HERE, or buy a COPY HERE.
Featured Photo by Tony Detroit on Unsplash
Tibetan Lemonade 