I don't want anyone to accompany me beyond the bridge
(where the last stair descends the water
and the gondoliers get lost)

I don't want anyone to see what I see
and what is intended for me
possibly for a mistake the birds made

the pigeons watch me with a certain tenderness
(which you wouldn't expect from them)
besides I wasn't even the one they were waiting for:
I'm not even from these parts
I have no friends here
nor acquaintances
and have never entered a bakery
a poultry shop or any of those places for tourists
and yet
the birds
beckon me to follow them
and even slow their gambolling pace

so I won't get lost

Translation: 2017, Matilda Colarossi