Anna Aresi

on translating Francesco Tomada

Affrontare la gioia da soli (Facing Joy Alone) is Francesco Tomada’s latest collection. This book, I believe, is meant to be enjoyed as a whole. Each poem is like a star in a constellation: you can look at one star and enjoy its beauty, but the bigger picture can be seen only when taking in the whole constellation. Each poem captures a moment, often seemingly insignificant, and together with all the other moments they make up a life and the search for meaning in it. Many texts also contain a revelation, a moment that illuminates the situation and propels further reflection and/or action. For these reasons, it was difficult to make a selection from the book. I feared that by plucking a few texts out of the whole, they would not be as meaningful and enjoyable. Eventually, I settled for these two, which well exemplify the spirit of Facing Joy Alone.

In “That Original Marines T-Shirt”, the poet sees himself mirrored in another: a refugee, an illegal outcast, is wearing the shirt that the poet donated to the Catholic charity Caritas. This person is in a group of people and looks happy, laughing and joking with his friends. He looks like the poet — wearing the poet’s old clothes — but is at the same time very different because of his happiness: “another me / but happy.” The poem closes, however, on an optimistic note, with the realization that this refugee is showing the poet who he can become.

“It Gets Dark Early” depicts a domestic scene that feels tired from the outset: what is left of dinner — dirty dishes and half-drunk bottles — represent what is left of the couple’s love, a lie compared to the promises they used to make to each other. A revelation (“we lied”) propels a realization (“the verb to love makes sense only in the present (tense)”) and an action that contains a seed of hope (“I reach my hand out”).