Memory of Poison
Combing your hair at night makes poison sift through
and curl up with fine teeth of memories
of the dead under the newly built road.
Birch trees small explosions, old woman bicycling down,
net-purse full of grapes grown out from tannery toxins
and there is death under the newly built road.
Poison sifts through the road, through tree trunks elevating
the day, through our dark hair unruly at night.
Eaten by Fire
small black fire quicksilver fly-fire
black drop in a satchel of fire
fire in the droplet of fire poured from hands
fire of skin and bone fire of marrow and pulp
eaten swallowed fire black fire of water at night
silvery fire on your wrists fingers of fire
on the curve of your throat transformation by fire
quicksilver fly-fire eaten up by fire
trial and error deviant tongues of fire:
ignited you shine with the black glimmer
of fire
black glimmer of fire taken at breakfast
fire swallowed with milk and cereal
do not read the warnings subdued pained
collateral of fire unbreakable oath:
awoken by fire you run
renewed you walk on the far shore of fire
Federica Santini is Professor of Italian and Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University, where she coordinates the Gender and Women’s Studies Program. She holds a Ph.D. in Italian literature from UCLA and an M.A. in Modern Literatures from the University of Siena, Italy. Her articles and literary translations have appeared in numerous journals, including Autografo, Rivista di Studi italiani, L’illuminista, il verri, L’Ulisse, and Italian Culture. Her poetry has appeared in The Ocotillo Review, Book of Matches, and Plath Profiles, among others. She has received, most recently, a Conference Fellowship for the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers’ Conference, a Best of the Net nomination, and a Waltham Forest Poetry Awards listing. She has authored or co-edited six volumes, including her monograph, Io era una bella figura una volta: Viaggio nella poesia di ricerca del secondo Novecento (Scritture, 2013), the English language, annotated edition of I Novissimi. Poetry for the Sixties, with Luigi Ballerini (Agincourt, 2017), and her poetry volume Unearthed (Kelsay Books, 2021).
Published March 7 2022