By Jordis Fasheh and Paolo Busolin
Photo by Jordis, Playas de Rosarito, Quinta del Mar, May 2017
As writers we all share the love of words, of language and communication. Indeed, language has always been one of my favorite things to explore. I believe it is because of my desire to connect with people all over the world.
Recently, I have been teaching myself Spanish as it is so necessary living in San Diego’s North County where there are many immigrants who only speak Spanish and I want to be able to communicate with them and not be constrained by not knowing the language.
But I also love Italian, and have been dabbling in it and trying to learn through poetry.
So I decided to write Mater in Italian since it is a Latin based word. I took a stab at it and then shared it with my Italian cousin Paolo, who is a talented writer and photographer.
I would like to share the Italian version with this community. As well as another poem I wrote “At One.”
As background to “At One,” when doing some research, I learned that the root of “alone” is from Middle English and is “all+one.” Furthermore, “individual’s,” root is “in (not)+divided.” Go figure! 🤣
So, I decided to change my original title from Alone to At One.
So there you have it, we are not alone in being!
Mater
Prego,
in silenzio,
dall’alba al tramonto,
disegnato da nebbie che,
avvolgono il mio cuore,
il mio castello,
mentre guardo,
un granello di sabbia,
la nebbia si dissipa,
in sole,
effimero,
e cedendo,
ad eoni di passaggio,
come le lacrime,
sciolgono l’oscurità,
oltre le scogliere,
a mater,
il mare dell’essere,
l’ultimo filone di DNA svanisce,
il Sole,
Sono,
Con amore
English Version
Mater – English version
I pray,
in silence,
from dawn to dusk,
drawn by mists that,
shroud my heart,
my castle,
as I look upon,
a grain of sand,
the mist dissipates,
into sunshine,
ephemeral,
and yielding,
to passing eons,
as tears,
melt the gloom,
beyond the cliffs,
to mater,
the sea of being,
the last strand of dna fades,
the Sun,
I Am,
with Love
Tutt’uno
Mentre io sono
individuo
solo
un raggio del sole
con tutto
una sola cosa
niente
centro del mio atomo
oh, un quark
Un individuo
completamente insolito
cosa fa tutto più uno?
io e te e tutto nell’universo in espansione.
At One – English version
As I am
individual
alone
a ray of the Sun
with all
at one
nothing
center of an atom
oh my, a quark
An individual
totally unusual
what is all plus one?
me and you and all in the expanding universe
© Jordis Fasheh and Paolo Busolin, September 2018
It’s beautifully crafted, sounds good in both.
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Thank you! And for asking me to share too!
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A pleasure.
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Bravissima! I love Italian too, but don’t write it well enough to be confident with poetry. These are lovely. I especially like of the association of mist, tears and grains of sand.
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Thank you, Jane!! Couldn’t have written the Italian without Paolo. It needed an artists eye that was fluent in Italian. Thank you for reading!
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I admire you for even attempting it!
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Beautiful in both languages!
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Thank you, Jan!
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The origin of the words alone and at one, this made a whole difference for me when I read the information you provided Jordis. We can learn so much from languages. You have been doing this magnificently. You are indeed creatively talented and, in two languages! Bravo to you both Paolo and Jordis for this inspiring sharing.
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Thank you, Hélène! This definitely was a test release. I am actually going to try to write a less abstract version of “At One.” This version was me trying out a new understanding of “what can be born out of nothing,” hence the reference to quark. And I am still learning Italian with a long way to go. It really is much easier to learn a language through immersion. But alas, I do not know when I can spend that much time in Italy. Perhaps in my retire years.
Paolo on the other hand is fluent in both Italian, his first language and English, which he learned from a very young age. I also think he is fluent in French, but Europeans unlike most Americans generally know two or more
languages fluently.
Is French spoken in Ottawa? I know it is in Quebec and other parts of Canada.
Thank you, Hélène for being open to these test poems that I share from time to time.
Jordan🤗
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In Ottawa, we have both French and English spoken. I learned English when I was 7 years old in 1950. My parents moved our family from a French speaking Quebec City to Ottawa at that time. I had never heard English spoken by then. I am fluent in French and English.
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Awesome, I love French. I love the Québécois but very difficult for me to understand fully.
Have you written poetry in French?
🤗
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No poetry in French Jordan.
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Wow! It is a testament to your great writing that you are able to create art in two languages! I love the sound of the Italian versions and the translations, profound and beautiful!
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Thank you!! I just had to try! But getting a great response so will keep it up. I may try French but want to stick with Italian until I learn the form. The Italian poets are really great and my writing seems to fit that language well.
Jordan🤗
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Nice… 😉
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Thank you, Stuart! 😁
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Congratulations! That was beautiful 🙂
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Thank you, Christine!💗
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So lovely!
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Thank you, Paula!
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Beautiful!!! Xoxoxo
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Thank you, Vivian!
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🤗💕
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