Albina Malerba
Albina Malerba was born in Testona near Moncalieri, where she lives. She graduated in Literature from the University of Turin and has been for decades a leading figure in the defense and promotion of Piedmontese culture. In 1978 she was awarded the XXVIII edition of the “Nino Costa” poetry prize. A gentle nostalgia for a time gone by and a sense of pagan wonder in the presence of nature pervade her poems. She is the director of the Centro Studi Piemontesi / Ca dë studi Piemontèis. Her only book published so far is Ël meisìn (River Island) (1983), dedicated to the memory of her father.
Pà… t’arcorde (From Ël meisìn)
Pà… t’arcorde che bel
cole sèire d’agost
cogià sl’erba frësca
ch’i vardavo ‘ncantà
a chël misteri dë stèile
Che ‘d còse an contava la neuit!
Ij grij mat a cantavo ‘dcò lor
la gòj àuta dl’istà
t’arcorde Pà
…..
che bel esse masnà
(Papà… ti ricordi «Papà… ti ricordi che bello / quelle sere d’agosto / distesi sull’erba fresca / che guardavamo incantati / a quel mistero di stelle // Quante cose ci raccontava la notte! / I grilli impazziti cantavano anche loro / la gioia alta dell’estate // ti ricordi papà / … / che bello essere bambini».)
Dad…you remember?
Dad…you remember those wonderful
nights in August
laying in the cool grass
looking enchanted
at that mystery of stars
The night was saying so much!
Crickets gone mad were singing
the high joy of summer too
You remember, dad…
…
How wonderful to be kids.