Sereno (2019)
Sereno was written expressly for the Bowers-Fado Duo, commissioned through the Roger Shapiro Foundation. The piece is dedicated to my friend Zakiya Hanafi, who recommended Ungaretti's marvellous poem, and who made the English translation.
Sereno
Dopo tanta
nebbia
a una
a una
si svelano
le stelle
Respiro
il fresco
che mi lascia
il colore del cielo
Mi riconosco
immagine
passeggera
Presa in un giro
Immortale.
- Giuseppe Ungaretti (1918)
///
Clear Skies
After so much
fog
one
by one
the stars
unveil themselves.
I breathe in
the freshness
that the color
of the sky
passes on to me.
I recognize myself
as a passing
image
caught in an immortal
orbit.
- translation: Zakiya Hanafi (2019)