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A little girl
A wall hidden though white
in a place worth a home
is the only faithful friend
there
a little girl has her shelter
at night in an uncertain silence
keeps her diary writes her dreams
invited
by the moon she reads it
holds back her scratched thoughts
by a mattress of straw
in
the day-time she must go out
after food after care
though far from brutal gangs
many
are the stray boys
violent the longing for life
derided the suffering losers
her
father’s face guides her
delicate and vague her body is
her eyes do challenge the crowd
the
misery all around exalts her –
“I wish to colour meanness
to change grimaces into smiles”
she
raises her arms and makes up
a dancing step in the mud
her intensity sustains illusion
the
night sharpens hunger
the wall is beside her and reflects
the prolonged light of a star
it
sounds joyful and inviting
to an isolated hut
the star attracts a quickening crowd
on
the straw a baby smiles
the debris turns into enchantment
the girl is astonished and tunes up-
“are
you the brother I expect?
your face offers hope
your breath bears perennial light”
translated by Rodolfo Longo
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