as it always happens
a foot that slips and the hip that crumbles
– female destiny – next

my grandmother’s body clinging to life
barely an animal and a thread of functions

defined by absence the thought disappears
it disappears the word, and disappears
the name

the idea remains of her
her legacy and witnesses: an ancient notebook
of prayers, a black and white picture with child
hundreds of lace
and her curved shoulders

it remains of her the flesh – last leaf
clinging to the branch – it remains
the primary urgency of hunger
the primal life
taking the form of her knotted hands

the surplus surrenders to the water
awaiting for the lightning
the supreme thunderbolt of the cosmic
quantum marking the way home

metamorphosis of petals
in the wind

LUCILLA TRAPAZZO is a Swiss/Italian poet, translator, artist and performer. Frequent guest of numerous international festivals (including Struga Poetry Evenings 2021, N. Macedonia; Princeton Festival 2021; Babylon International Festival of the Arts 2022, Baghdad), her poems have been translated into 18 languages and extensively published in International literary magazines and anthologies. Author of five books of poetry, she was poet laureate Kurora e Poezisë, Korca International Festival Netët të Poezisë, Albania in 2023.