The world was made
in very little time,
amid great quarrels,
and only at the last
moment was it decided,
out of mistrust,
to institute death and to split up the sexes.
God was very jealous
of his four or five colleagues and out of spite
he said:
In any event they’ll all be broken in a few years’ time, some without
an arm, some without a leg, might as well
make them die!
And another one said:
And how are you going to make new ones?
I won’t make them, they
will! Nice work. And so,
at the last moment,
in a few minutes, they invented sexual instinct,
and childhood. They almost came to blows.
And one said: can’t you see
that this way it will be full of problems?
Who gives a damn – said God.
– I don’t even like this world anyway.
It came out wrong. Nice work –
another one interjected. – What did you expect, given that they all have to eat
one another? It’s logical that they would
wear out. And so? What would you have done?
They almost
came to blows.
Translated from the Italian of Carlo Bordini by Nail Chiodo.
Bibliographie complète à la fin du poème Les Gestes.
POESIA DEMENTE
Il mondo fu fatto
in pochissimo tempo,
tra grandi litigate,
e solo all’ultimo
momento fu deciso,
per sfiducia,
di istituire la morte e di dividere i sessi.
Dio era molto geloso
dei suoi quattro o cinque colleghi e per ripicca
disse:
Ma tanto in pochi anni saranno tutti rotti, chi senza
un braccio, chi senza una gamba, tanto vale
farli morire!
E un altro gli disse:
E quelli nuovi come li fai?
Non li faccio io, li fanno
loro! Bella roba. E così,
all’ultimo momento,
in pochi minuti, inventarono l’istinto sessuale,
e l’infanzia. Quasi vennero alle mani.
E uno disse: ma non vedi
che così sarà pieno di guai?
Chi se ne frega – disse Dio.
– Tanto questo mondo non mi piace.
E’ venuto male. Bella roba –
interloquì un altro. – Cosa pretendevi, con l’idea che tutti devono mangiarsi
l’uno con l’altro? E’ logico che si sarebbero
consumati. E allora? Tu che avresti fatto?
Quasi
vennero alle mani.
Carlo Bordini, I costruttori di vulcani, Luca Sossella, Bologna, 2010.