“And then we cowards”

I do not have the strength to talk about it any more, so maybe I won’t. I can’t move on, not just yet, but the crying is done. The crying is done.

“And then we cowards”   Cesare Pavese   Translated by Geoffrey Brock

And then we cowards who loved the whispering evening, the houses, the paths by the river, the dirty red lights of those places, the sweet soundless sorrow— we reached our hands out toward the living chain in silence, but our heart startled us with blood, and no more sweetness then, no more losing ourselves on the path by the river— no longer slaves, we knew we were alone and alive.

This poem appeared in  Disaffections: Complete Poems 1930-1950 by Cesare Pavese, translated by Geoffrey Brock , published by Copper Canyon Press, 2002. Shared here with profound gratitude.

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