I spent the summer finishing the first draft of my own ms. of poems as well as Alda Merini's, poema della croce. The experience put me in hermit mode most through the end of August.
Merini floors me! Her book length poem presumes to speak in the voices of the main characters in the life and passion of Christ. Maybe it sounds too close to that old time religion, but believe me, it's not. She re-visions (my hybrid word for her process) the relationships and the rationals behind those relationships.
I don't want to give too much away because I'm hoping to get this text into print. Suffice to say, Mary and Jesus have a much more complex role than we are encouraged to think about when we study catechism in grade school. If you aren't a person of faith, the poem may draw you in because of Merini's ability to bring mother and son close to her readers as human beings with human hopes and frailties. God gets an earful from both of his creations.
The process of translation raises lots of interesting questions about Merini's intentions as I sift through language choices that are homophones that provide double entendre and/or challenges to translating her true meaning.
If anyone is translating her work, I'd enjoy hearing from you. If you'd like more information about her go to http://www.aldamerini.com/ .
There's a I welcome discussions about favorite poems, poets, etc. I'm reading Jack Gilbert's, Refusing Heaven right now, for the third time. His work keeps me from despair. Hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think.
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