Luckily for Me by Mario Badino Luckily for me, I’ve never seen corpses in the street, but I know the televised images the bodies of massacred children, the delicate faces, and bombs are certainly not exclusive, not even from far away, some scary and ugly terrorists, of those with the beard or the flag: the instigators wear jackets, jackets and ties; and the aviators, celestial performers, they wear real uniforms and ranks, up there, in the highest heavens; they strike men of good will on the earth. Luckily for me, I’ve never seen explosions that shatter the peace, and I already have little tolerance for scooters, fireworks, people on cell phones; I can't imagine who is at home when the roof collapses, the floor above comes below I die crushed, broken, because below, or above or to the side lives – lived – the target, with his family, his children, or alone. Translated by Mike Maggio and Mario Badino ©2023 IO PER FORTUNA di Mario Badino Io per fortuna non ne ho visti mai, cadaveri in strada, ma so le immagini trasmesse, i corpi di bambini massacrati, i visi delicati; e certo le bombe non sono l’esclusiva, neppure di lontano, dei terroristi spaventosi e brutti, di quelli con la barba e la bandiera: i mandanti indossano la giacca, giacca e cravatta (appretto); e gli aviatori, celesti esecutori, portano divise e gradi veri, lassù, nell’alto dei cieli; centrano in terra gli uomini di buona volontà. Io per fortuna non ne ho viste mai, esplosioni che squarciano la quiete, e già tollero poco i motorini, i botti, la gente al cellulare; non riesco a immaginare che sono in casa quando crolla il tetto, il piano sopra se ne viene sotto muoio schiacciato, rotto, perché di sotto, o sopra oppure a lato vive – viveva – il terrorista, con la famiglia, i figli, oppure solo. Copyright by Mario Badino 2023
Mario Badino was born in Turin in 1975, grew up in the Alps and then moved to Apulia, in the South of Italy, where he lives with Silvia and their children, Emma and Riccardo. He teaches Italian in middle school and is the author of three books of poetry (“Cianfrusaglia”, “Barricate!” and “Santificare le feste”). He’s a member of the poetic collective SlammalS, that promotes spoken-word poetry in Apulia. You can read more about him on his web site.
