Borders

A poem about the nomadic populations that inhabit extreme areas of the planet, where the forces of nature reveal fascinating landscapes and phenomena

Michele Scaccaglia was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1984. He is a writer and storyteller based in Berlin. His short stories, poems and lyrics deal with the distorted perception of time and space, along with the dark sides of human beings.

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The storm is hungry.
Skins roasted by frost let it blow
between muffled spirits and relentless hisses.
Closer to the stars,
far from mankind.

Sacred silences shock the sky.
Boreal riots with a changing mood:
Green to red, red to mammal.
Nitrogen gets off on cyclical mutations,
from liquid to astral,
from blackness to radiance.

A veil of bark grips the face
with a pale expression of harsh cohabitations.
Sights are sharpened, mirroring the horizon.
Visions build their nest
between narrow cracks and whale bones.
A sinuous gallop,
a fair fear runs wild through crystal deserts. 
No room for distress.
We advance and suffocate.
We suffocate and dance.

That’s no research, it’s reaction.
That’s no conquest, it’s adaptation.
How’s the day today?
Of glory or fasting?
Of hunting or quiet?
Of eternal candor.

Look into my eyes: I lose you.

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