Il discorso del toro
In una grotta la prima volta sono morto.
M’uccise poi Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia,
Teseo invece m’ammazzò nel Labirinto
Lo stesso m’accadde laggiù, in Anatolia.
Fin dalle epoche più antiche
Il mio sangue generosamente ha fluito
Scorrendo negli alvei sotterranei
Dei mitrei;
Ha schizzato sull’arena calda
Delle tauromachie
E imbrattato gli spalti della corrida
Di rosse macchie.
In egual misura in tutti i riti
Fui deificato e sacrificato:
Per la forza sicura, per l’imponenza
Per la mia potenza, per la bellezza.
Nessuno chiede mai agli Dei
Se vogliono essere adorati.
In verità vi dico che per noi
Sarebbe meglio passare inosservati.
The Bull Says
First, I died in a cave.
Later, Gilgamesh
killed me in Mesopotamia
Theseus in the labyrinth.
The same happened in
Anatolia.
Down from ancient times
my blood, lavishly
filled the underground
riverbeds of Mithraeums
splashed over warm sand
of Tauromachies
splattered arena scaffoldings
with red stains.
In each rite I was equally
deified and sacrificed
due to my strength, bulk
power, beauty.
No one ever asks gods
if they’d wish to be adored.
Let me tell you how glad
we would be to go unnoticed.
The poet: Born in Rome in 1961, Maurizio Castè has a degree in theater and one in philosophy of language. He has been active for three decades as an actor, director, composer and musician. He has published a poetry collection, Libro Chiuso (Firenze Libri, 1989). His poems are also featured in the anthologies Porte e Tempo (Progetto Cultura, 2016-17) and Navigare (n. 84, Pagine, 2017).
The translator: Toti O'Brien is the Italian Accordionist with the Irish Last Name. She was born in Rome then moved to Los Angeles, where she makes a living as a self-employed artist, performing musician and professional dancer. Her work has most recently appeared in Colorado Boulevard, JMWW, Heavy Feather, and Waxwing.