Lake without Tears

My bones stuck out. From under my skin. All my joints were full of pus-
my knee and elbows, my throat

They thought it was diphtheria, but it wasn't.
It was the onset of death.

Again, I was there somewhere, with some Czech boy and some people
I don't know... next to me was a toilet bowl.
People had diarrhea.
It was living hell.

Ans suddenly Luisa came and said:
"The war is over".

I still remember the feeling. I thought:
Now? What for? It is no longer possible to live.
Where were they before?
What is the use of it now?

Excerpt from "Lake without Tears" by Firenza Guidi.

First presented in Sovigliana (Fi)
Vois club
Wednesday 9 February 2011

photo N. Cioni