HOW MANY MORE DAY ONES

How many more Day Ones
out of forty
in this fertile desert

How many more Giorni Uno
kemm-il Jum Wieħed
kemm jumwiħedijiet
ημεραένατα
before
una volta per sempre
I begin

That is to say
before I stop
musing on the impossible
that was destined to be possible
μόνο μια φορά
once only
seulement une fois

Two evenings,
one notte stellata
of crickets, koukouvágies,
and other bodily music
around a faded map,
one kalytero proí
la colazione più dolce,
a lingering aftertaste
of bitter σοκολάτα

Details fading
what turned possible
is becoming
has become
became
un mito
ένας ποιητικός μύθος
a poetically painful
myth

Two evenings, una notte,
one kalytero proí,
that’s four walls
of a sterna
amid the sprouting figs
and this longing
that digs
and digs

A sterna
to be filled, to not be filled
on a random day
of a random season
with a downpour
of forgiveness and αγάπη

And yet
if the sterna
as she wrote
is αστείρευτη
galactic, endless
then the digging
may never stop

Pablito, Rokkinu,
Libertà sempre più lontana
o l’idea, il ricordo di te,
che ne dite
la chiudiamo questa sterna
Time to build the roof
with solid concrete,
place the pipes,
the pompa, the well

Though cosmic love
can never die
let us close this sterna
quaranta volte e da capo
eppoi
una volta
per mai

— Radju Rokku, Book ζ