SurVision Magazine

In Passing


Nothing changes,
says a man who passes me by –
and yet time changes
maintaining an unending relay of seconds;
seasons change without a warning;
also, the colour of the air that I breathe.
And the weather changes too; it causes
a spasm in my chest that I drown
in a sip of water, and so it vanishes
along with a childish fright, conceived
by my fear of remaining an insentient
sheet of photographic paper
while the whole world goes by.





One Thousand Shards


Behind my back, there's an old repository
of my used souls, all in pieces
of my willingness to break free.
I could be whole; I could look like a deaf bull
tied to some nothingness striving to be something.
But it's not me. And I'm still searching for my thousand shards.





A Doll


A broken doll
with uneven legs
one eye east-facing the other 
staring at the face
of fear, while everything gets
heavier and nothing can hold
the weight of the moon
to light up the ill-lit road,
and whoever is waiting, a map
in his hand, sees a wounded light
below and a shadow to cover it


Translated from Italian by Anatoly Kudryavitsky





Mara Venuto is an Italian poet, novelist and playwright. She was born in Taranto, and lives in Ostuni. She made his debut in 2008 with the collection of short stories and monologues Read My Thoughts (Cicorivolta Edizioni, 2008), followed by a few novels and numerous collaborative works. In 2016, she published the theatrical monologue The Monster (a finalist in the Mario Fratti Award, New York, 2014). Her poetry collection entitled Waterproof (Casa Editrice & Libraria) appeared in 2014, and later that year won Honourable Mention at Piero Alinari International Poetry Prize. In 2019, her second poetry collection, The Dust Scattered by the Wind, was published by Casa Editrice & Libraria.