One Day,Albino Pierro was a 20th century Italian poet who was twice nominated for the Nobel prize for literature (in 1986 and 1988) despite the relatively narrow nature of his work. He came from a small town in the south of the country called Tursi and much of his later work was written in the local “Lucan” dialect.
His subject matter seemed to be almost exclusively based on his hometown and when nominated for the award many saw it as a controversial move with some literary critics saying that others were more deserving. His memory is preserved in Tursi with many local festivals and events celebrating his work, yet outside of this region his name is less well known.
One Day by Albino Pierro
One day,
I could not tell you whether it was cold
or raining in the world
the midday light
suddenly broke out.
Without realizing,
the lovers walked hand in hand
and swam across the smile
spread by the town bells.
There was no anguish now;
they felt lighter than saints,
they dreamed the dreams of
virgins stretched upon the grass,
who see the sky and a dove
passing before them.They came to the right spot:
now they could embrace
and kiss
they could entwine like flames
within a fire, and cry
and laugh and sigh like madmen,
but they did nothing:
they stood bewildered
like roseate snow upon the mountains,
when the sun sets and wrenches out a moan
from all creation.
