The Poetic Penguin Café (2.4)
Cutting Branches for a Temporary Shelter

Have you ever tried, in a serene air
and in a pure land – but don’t give yourself
any kind of feeling – to suddenly gaze
at a boy? Innocence
might perhaps ride back up the slow road on his bike,
and then it will suddenly be taken from you
by the dust of a truck.
When the sky clears, look again
on the road, or in the heart, for the empty enchantment.
Nature will feign its sunset.
And everything will seem to you – but don’t give yourself
any kind of feeling – false and true.

Inventing alone suits you. Next to a
sorrowful familiar feeling. But inventing
what? Innocence is a flag,
and the blushes extinguish in the sad
staging of evening.

Love invents and risks. Inventing
alone suits you. A banner
can be worth a war. And in you flashes
the love of yourself, like a sweet mix.

Sandro Penna (1906 – 1977)

Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter (2008 Digital Remaster)