Two Poems by Marc Alan Di Martino

How I Like It

I close the curtain tight so you can’t see.
Piece of cake, right? But it’s no joke.
You need a trained eye and a bit
of inspiration if you want to hit
your mark. And I’m a master at it.
So you live on the noble floor, dressed
in your Sunday best, well-bred?
Left your Mercedes double-parked?
Too late. My spit lands right on your head.

Country Life

A pair of thrushes picked
off the branch, the glint
of a hooked tench, I hunt
and fish like a lord to my heart’s content.

In Rome, I was old. Here
crisp air emboldens me,
wine heats my blood. Toss
another pillow on the mattress,
I’ll wait right here for the girl who says ‘yes.’

Note: Both these poems are translations from the Romanesco poet Mario dell’Arco (‘Country Life’ is, in turn, a loose translation of Martial). Mario dell’Arco (1905-1996) was the preeminent Romanesco poet of the latter half of the 20th century.

Marc Alan Di Martino is the author of the collections Still Life with City (Pski's Porch, 2022) and Unburial (Kelsay, 2019). His chapbook Love Poem with Pomegranate was released this summer with Ghost City Press. His poems and translations appear in On the Seawall, Pulsebeat, Rattle, THINK, West Review, and many other journals and anthologies. His work has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Day Lasts Forever: Selected Poems of Mario dell'Arco will be published by World Poetry Books in 2024. He lives in Italy and is a poetry reader for the Baltimore Review.