Bird watching
I don’t know why birds cause such serenity in humans – maybe their ability to fly is what enchants us. I saw two men (birders) with binoculars eyeing the cormorants today in the park. We all looked at the birds and the birds all looked elsewhere.
[As for me, I used to be a bird]
As for me, I used to be a bird
with a gentle white womb,
someone cut my throat
just for laughs,
I don’t know.
As for me, I used to be a great albatross
and whirled over the seas.
Someone put an end to my journey,
without any charity in the tone of it.
But even stretched out on the ground
I sing for you now
my songs of love.
ALDA MERINI
translated from the Italian by Susan Stewart