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Lucilla Trapazzo – Switzerland/Italy
Behind the Sand Dune
(For the Children of Gaza)
Things we leave behind:
a prosthetic arm with instructions
manual
clothes, shoes, some school notebooks
someone keeps a report card
tucked in their pocket
as a guiding star
the rest is a pile of multiple parts
irrelevant items close to zero
things we leave behind
Strange iron sails rumble of engines
shadows of fingers running on the face
we have no river, we have no seas
only we have sand – golden
on monochrome canvas
we can collect a thumb a foot
before falling into a recess or we may gaze back
to the backdrop of the pyrotechnic scene
admire the force of fire
how much time do we have left?
I’m thirsty, I’m gasping, I’d settle
(if I could) for some soda
pouring from a fountain
just as on TV
Behind a sand dune a soldier and a child
(in hypothesis of elliptical time) stand
still
suspended
still –overflowing–
there’s a glimmer
of dazzling hope
(Translated in English by author)
Dietro la duna (Per i bambini di Gaza)
possiamo farne a meno:
un sottopancia squadrato con libretto
di istruzioni
vestiti scarpe qualche quaderno di scuola
qualcuno ha una pagella cucita nella tasca
una stella cometa
un mucchio di più parti
oggetti irrilevanti prossimi allo zero
possiamo farne a meno
rombo di tuono ali d’amianto
strane strisce parallele sulla polvere
d’uomo ombre di dita sui visi
non abbiamo mari non abbiamo fiumi
ma un’ultima opzione
sabbia – sabbia su tela monocroma
raccogliere una mano un piede prima
d’infilarci in un recesso o tornare
sul fondale della scena pirotecnica
ammirare la forza dell’incendio
quanto tempo ci rimane?
ho una certa sete mi accontenterei di un banco
di bibite gassate
come alla TV
dietro una duna un soldato e un bambino
immobili un bambino e un soldato sospesi
in ipotesi di tempo circolare
tracimano guizzi di
attesa
si dilata all’infinito una fragile speranza
abbacinante
Lucilla Trapazzo – Switzerland/Italy
A firm believer in human and planetary rights, her social and feminine perspective is reflected in many of her writings.
One of her poems, Salmodia, which tells of a child-bride, was transposed in a video (Palazzo del Poeta production, OST Marco Di Stefano), broadcasted by RAI 1 (Italian National TV) in the spring and autumn seasons in 2021.
In her works, Lucilla often seeks a synthesis between different artistic languages.
After a degree in German Literature, “La Sapienza” University (Rome), she got a Post Graduate diploma in Technical Translation at the Department of Region Latium, and later a M.A. in Film & Video at the “American University” (Washington, D.C.). She studied theatre at the “Fersen Academy” in Rome and Art at the “Corcoran School of Art” in Washington, D.C.
Editor of the poetry section of MockUp Magazine, Italy and of Innsaei Literary Journal, India; member of the artistic board of Progressive Literary & Cultural Society , India; collaborator of the cultural magazine Esta Tierra, Spain and the magazine Невская формула (Formula Nevsky), Saint Petersburg, Russia; co-editor and
translator of several international anthologies, Lucilla Trapazzo has
served as a juror and jury president in international poetry competitions, and has co-organized and moderated poetry events, International Festivals and art exhibitions for international associations.
To her credit she has eight books of poetry, a series of translations of international poets, numerous literary collaborations with associations, magazines and anthologies (as poet, editor, and translator), and a CD with compositions by Marco di Stefano, inspired by her poems.
Her poems, translated into 18 languages, received important international awards (including: poet laureate Kurora e Poezisë, International Festival of Korca, Albania 2023; first prize Civil and Philosophical Poems, “XI Checkhov’s Autumn International Festival”, Crimea 2021; Gold Medal for Outstanding Poet Award at the “Yan’an 2021 Awards”, People’s Republic of China 2021; Golden Feather 2021 (Золотое Перо Руси), Russia “for the excellent synthesis of different artistic languages and styles”)
She is a frequent guest speaker at numerous international venues and bookfairs, and regularly participates in poetry, performance, and art festivals in the United States, Europe , Africa and Asia (some: Struga Poetry Evenings, N.Macedonia 2021; Princeton Festival, USA 2021,2024; Kistrech International Festival, Kenya 2023; Walt Whitman Museum House, USA, 2024; Week of the Italian Language in the World, guest of Swiss and Italian Embassies in Skopje, N. Macedonia 2023; Istanbul Bookfair 2023; Cairo Bookfair 2024; Bookcity, Milano 2024).
She is one of the initiators of Teatro dell’Improvvisazione, the only Italian-language Playback Theater company in Zurich. She also founded the duos of theatrical performance Hypnagogya and PuntoD, and created “Teatral-mente,” a series of workshops, between theatrical improvisation and psychology, with Emanuele Saladino, psychologist.
Her works of art are shown at international exhibitions and festivals in the UK, USA, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and South America.
