Cesare Pavese Poems

Death will come with your eyes—
this death that accompanies us
from morning till night, sleepless,
deaf, like an old regret
...

On the asphalt of the avenue the moon makes
a quiet lake and my friend remembers other times.
A spontaneous encounter used to be enough for him
and he was no longer alone. Looking at the moon,
...

Again the rain will fall
on the sweet pavements,
a light rain
like a breath or a footstep.
...

Stunned by the world, I reached an age
when I threw punches at air and cried to myself.
Listening to the speech of women and men,
not knowing how to respond, it's not fun.
...

This body won't start again. Touching his eye sockets
one feels a heap of earth is more alive,
that the earth, even at dawn, does not keep itself so quiet.
But a corpse is the remains of too many awakenings.
...

Dawn's faint breath
breathes with your mouth
at the ends of empty streets.
Gray light your eyes,
...

Black earth red earth,
you come from the sea,
from the arid green,
where there are ancient
...

Man and woman watch each other lying in bed:
their two bodies stretched out wide and exhausted.
the man is still, only the woman takes long breaths
that quiver her ribs. The legs distended
...

You have a face of carved stone,
blood of hardened earth,
you came from the sea.
All is gathered and scrutinized
...

Why be ashamed? When one has done time,
if they let one out, it's because like everybody else
who belongs to the streets, one has been in prison.

From morning till evening we wander the avenues
...