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A la Madonnina del Ponte
Who is he who has lit the lamp at the Little Madonna of the Bridge?
Dino Campana, The Glass Window
In the ancient light, dusk's faded exhalation,
the breath of this European town:
effluvia, spices. The bite of tin, musty wool.
Where mullioned panes of near-still river water
reflect the bridge's modest arch: upper
and lower lips. Bows sipping slowly
at this draught of night, they do not smile
as the first slow star pricks through the velvet of sky.
Yet even here, where night seems
the most welcome curtain
for the stale and sterile drama of the day
someone has knelt, knelt
before a niche in this stone wall
and lit an oily flame
to smoke and waver its night-long human story
before the dazzled eyes of jaded dark.
Roberta Feins
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