Minghe to Peppa
XX.The farmhouse, you can tell, is the one there
that appears brightly whitened in the sun
and holds within that eye under the ledge
two coupled doves that make a happy pair.
A pergola of Sanginella grapes
now runs over the well, wedded to a white
mulberry tree and to a blackthorn hedge
where birds go in and stay the whole day long.
A spikenard on the wall against the sunlight
full of a thousand blooming spikes in spring
is there to lend its fragrance to the sheets
and on the window sill you see upright
the finest plants of violets grown in clusters
all born and raised inside two earthen pots.
(Translated by Luigi Bonaffini)