What Should My Mother Know?I
When the night begins to fall
and it burns these tired eyes,
when I wake and start to miss you
my one yearning is to kiss you.
And I watch you and dawn rises;
other people enjoy this sunlight.
In my heart I hold the night
and cannot get rest at all.
Ah, don’t you make me die.
What do you expect of me?
O dear mother come and tell me
why this longing’s such a spell.
Ah, don’t you make me die.
What do you expect of me?
What should my mother know?
I don’t have the nerve to kiss you.
(Translated by Luigi Bonaffini)