from Mud Songs

Patricio Ferrari

Mare,

          a Janus word 
female horse 
          Italian sea like
belladonna. Deadly  poison
          in one mouth
beautiful woman in another

Convergent languages  remain
          unfaithful 
to me, lure me  to
          sirenic 
waters, unmoored 
          in a cento of 

          cantos    
                     crashing against 
                               la cala tra sé & sé / cove of un-self  

      
          Hold fast, release mare, the sea 
                     unseas what is not sea   



Wharfrom

Y tú irás con ellos arrastrando la noche.
—Raúl González Tuñón
 
The port withdraws from present
          as self 
between what mother spells
          and distance dispels

this stance di se stesso  before 
          you
the inventory of
          your past

under shards of sky in
          thick ropes of rain 
casting away   aweigh, to
          keener shores

where nocturnal shoals lurk  
          through the sunken corals of the dead  
where language translates  into
          another crossing            

I, began in a far-off word   forewaters
          careening in my mouth 
i mari brulicano di esuli, the mares 
          the breakers of exiles 

I, perpetually arriving 
          an immigrant to myself
I am not just the ocean’s offspring, I’ll
          make a harbor out of any tongue

Patricio Ferrari is a polyglot poet, translator, and editor. Born in Argentina of Italian descent, he ventured to the United States at sixteen and later traveled through India before settling in Paris, earning an MA in Comparative Literature from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. His fascination with Fernando Pessoa led him to Lisbon, where he delved into Pessoa’s unpublished works and earned a PhD in Linguistics from Universidade de Lisboa. His literary pursuits continued in the United States, culminating in a post-doctoral project and an MFA in Poetry at Brown University. As a literary translator and editor, he has published twenty books, including The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos by Pessoa, with Margaret Jull Costa (New Directions, 2023) and Habla terreña by Frank Stanford, with Graciela S. Guglielmone (Field Talk; Pre-textos, 2023). Ferrari resides in New York City and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and Rutgers University. Mud Songs marks his debut in full-length poetry. He speaks seven languages.