Alleyway – Quasimodo

Alleyway

(Mi chiama talvolta la tua voce)

Sometimes your voice calls to me,

and I do not know what skies

or waters you wake me to:

a net of sunlight that glazes

your walls that at evening were

a swaying of late lanterns

in the workshops filled

with the breeze and sadness.

At other times: a loom clattered in the yard

and at night were the cries

of children and puppies.

Alleyway: a crossing of houses,

that calls thus softly,

and knows not the fear

of being alone in the dark.

Salvatore Quasimodo (1901-1968)

source: Salvatore Quasimodo selected poems
poetsofmodernity.xyz
translated by A S Kline