A cob thick with stars ripens in my hands. Starlight on my face, my skin on fire. But here’s the rub: at twilight, on the Janiculum, to make it out through the smog.
Mario dell’Arco the pen name of Mario Fagiolo (Rome, 1905-96), was the most significant Romanesco poet of the latter half of the 20th century. He published nearly 60 books and chapbooks of poetry in his lifetime. His work is marked by its bittersweet, almost jaded stance, a hallmark of the Roman attitude towards life (and death).
Marc Alan Di Martino is the author of the collections Still Life with City (Pski's Porch, 2022) and Unburial (Kelsay, 2019). His poems and translations appear in On the Seawall, Pulsebeat, Rattle, THINK, West Review and many other journals and anthologies. His work has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. His translation Day Lasts Forever: Selected Poems of Mario dell'Arco will be published by World Poetry Books in 2024. He lives in Italy.
