Beautiful, subtle, metaphysical poem...delivered perfectly in the musical tide...

Very beautiful, Ilaria. Congratulations on creating a touching picture with words and sounds. Greetings from Argentina. Roberto.

your words are very cathartic...lovely poem and music IIaria....

These tracks contributed to create my poetry book and soundscape of the same name.

BOOK
https://www.valleypressuk.com/shop/p/beginnings-tragedies

ALBUM
https://ilariaboffa.bandcamp.com/album/beginnings-other-tragedies-the-soundscape

Beginnings & Other Tragedies/ Inizi e Altre Tragedie

Music 'Sich langsam verziehender Nebel' by https://soundcloud.com/demo-1901
Sonopoetry 'The Shallows, the Birds' and mixing by https://soundcloud.com/ilaria_boffa 
Cover picture, Venice lagoon, the Shallows, by C.

'The shallows, the birds

Invisible to the eye
it comes in the fog.
The shallows, the birds. 
Will it stop
blurring the lines
of reality? 
The aftermath of sorrow
fends for itself.

(did you recognise us?)

Invisibile agli occhi
giunge nella nebbia.
Le acque basse, gli uccelli.
Smetterà di offuscare il confine
della realtà?
I postumi della pena
badano a loro stessi.'

The Shallows, The Birds (1901 & Ilaria Boffa)

Sonopoetry by Ilaria Boffa
Field recording taken at Teatro La Fenice Opera House, Venice, 2022 by Ilaria Boffa
pic Teatro La Fenice 2022, by IB 

'Whatever comes to pass
time will file the time
and this extraordinary wait.
The drama and the epic
the events that befall
the beginners
invoke glory and rage.
Because of necessity
they happen to live
because of belongingness
they happen to become.
There’s no difference between
starting and starting over for
what was or wasn’t done
cycles with the stringency
of a climate loop.
And the silence of hesitation
saturates the air condensing
inside the mask
accelerating the dew point.
It muffles this new normal.
Beginners challenge
the so called tragedy
of the time horizon
in which people can’t imagine
the suffering of the humans
of the future and
nothing much gets done
on their behalf.
Beginners are seamless
and they care.
Some of them give in.'

'Qualunque cosa accada
il tempo archivierà il tempo
e questa straordinaria attesa.
Il dramma e l’epopea
gli eventi che accadono
a chi comincia
suscitano gloria e rabbia.
Per necessità
succede di vivere
per appartenenza
succede di divenire.
Non c’è differenza tra
iniziare e ricominciare perché
ciò che è stato o non è stato fatto
si ripete con l’intransigenza
dei cicli climatici.
E il silenzio dell’esitazione
satura l’aria che condensa
all’interno della mascherina
accelerando il punto di rugiada.
Attutisce questa nuova normalità.
Coloro che iniziano sfidano
la cosiddetta tragedia
dell’orizzonte temporale
per cui le persone non riescono
a immaginare la sofferenza
degli esseri umani del futuro e
poco viene speso a loro favore.
Coloro che iniziano sono senza soluzione
di continuità e a loro importa.
Alcuni si arrendono.'

Ode for the Beginners

Field recording taken in Vibo Marina (Italy) by IB
Violin improvisation and vocals on the beach by https://soundcloud.com/ida-di-vita
Sono-poetry, sound effects and mixing by IB

Excerpt #2 from my in progress new poetry book:

'And then there’s failure. Again and again.
A sandcastle torn down right before it falls.
Because it’s stinging to see it washed in with the tide
blown away or stamped over by someone else.
It’s always been an elsewhere with an unnatural
push to end.    

Failing failing failing and failing again.
It’s the cost of regret and choices
deferred that burdens us.
Getting old and realising that
we haven’t shared our lives.
The gusts of wind clearing fast
the air when fall starts.

Trying, trying, trying and trying again.
So mortal the doubt of being defeated 
the discomfort, the weakness.
If only guilt could make amends. 

Everywhere is an elsewhere.
Such region of possibility blurs behind 
the virtuality of this decade
the world’s several attempts to
decarbonise as fast as possible
chasing consensus at COP negotiations.
We should sign our own Paris Agreement
and write a consistent rubric.
We should lie down under 
an auburn skyline and kiss.

E poi c’è il fallimento. Ancora e ancora.
Un castello di sabbia distrutto giusto prima di cadere.
Perché è dura vederlo scomparire con la marea
spazzare via dal vento o calpestare da qualcun altro.
È sempre stato un altrove dall’innaturale
spinta a finire.

Fallire fallire fallire e fallire ancora.
È il costo del rimpianto e delle scelte
differite che grava su di noi.
Invecchiare e rendersi conto
di non aver condiviso le nostre vite.
Le raffiche di vento che puliscono l’aria
veloci all’inizio dell’autunno.

Provare, provare, provare e provare ancora.
Com’è mortale il dubbio del venir sconfitti
il disagio, la debolezza.
Se solo la colpa facesse ammenda.

Dovunque è un altrove.
Questa regione di possibilità sbiadisce dietro 
la virtualità dell’ultima decade
i numerosi tentativi del mondo
di decarbonizzare il più velocemente possibile
inseguendo il consenso alle negoziazioni COP.
Dovremmo firmare il nostro Accordo di Parigi
e scrivere un corrispondente protocollo.
Dovremmo stenderci sotto 
uno skyline ramato e baciarci.'

So mortal the doubt

Field recording taken by IB at the Antique Market/Mercatino delle Cose d'Altri Tempi, Piazzola sul Brenta (Padua). Group of college students' open air performance.
This market is one of the biggest in Europe.

Poem 'Make Me Ready' by IB from the in progress new book

'Make me ready for the arrival of the rain
which is expected heavy but needed.
Show me what I can get rid of
pruning shrubs along the fluvial corridor.
And if we must leave 
the fourth industrial revolution behind
its augmented social reality 
to repair our notion of mortality
help me not to falter.
We may remain one day, one last day.'

'Preparami all’arrivo della pioggia
che si prevede intensa ma necessaria.
Mostrami ciò di cui sbarazzarmi
potare gli arbusti lungo il corridoio fluviale.
E se dobbiamo lasciarci alle spalle
la quarta rivoluzione industriale
la sua aumentata realtà sociale 
per poter recuperare la nozione di mortalità
aiutami a non vacillare.
Potremmo rimanere un giorno, un ultimo giorno.'

Make Me Ready

While listening to Electronic Intifada's interview with Abubaker live from Gaza Strip, I've improvised an electro-acoustic piece using field recordings, synthesizer and guitar. Instrumental version (without voice-over but perhaps with another poem when it gets written). 
Keep informed and donate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykklx8iLo_0&ab_channel=TheElectronicIntifada

Unmute The Speaker On Gaza

The Rifles & Garbage Podcast is a series concerned with acoustic ecology and the slow, methodical dismantling of the technocapitalist war machine via poetry, deep listening & sound activism. We go in search of a demilitarized trade zone of spirit & ideas. If we don't find it then we takes steps toward creating it while pushing back against ecocide. Join us. Support via paypal jeff.gburek@gmail Patreon coming soon. Field recordings made by Jeff Gburek. Poems by Mosab Abu Toha & others (full list of all recordings will be posted in a few hours).

Rifles & Garbage Podcast Second Edition

I am delighted to give my contribution for 'Ode to Life', a project created by talented artist and friend Wilfried Hanrath. 
(https://soundcloud.com/flyingtonefish)

'Ode to Life' is a cry to be and remain human regardless of religion, land, present and future. A collection of various artists.
https://wilfriedhanrath.bandcamp.com/album/ode-to-life

Phonocene/Fonocene is an excerpt from my latest book 'Beginning and Other Tragedies/Inizi e Altre Tragedie'.
This track is voice only, a crescendo of pathos and anticipation, which I hope does justice to the theme.

Phonocene

We’ve recognised our sound
in this Phonocene.
We’ve shared significance
and a territory, a place to be.
While feeling and hearing
birds crashing into the sky
trees imploding, people
tearing apart and decomposing
we cry out our phonos
of pure joy and echoes of grief.

We walk this Phonocene
with our eyes closed, stuck
in between bewilderment and action.
What can we do but hold on
and be memory for one another?
What can we do
but belong to life?

Fonocene

Abbiamo riconosciuto il nostro suono
in questo Fonocene.
Abbiamo condiviso il significato
e il territorio, un posto in cui essere.
Mentre percepiamo e ascoltiamo
uccelli schiantarsi contro il cielo
alberi implodere, persone
andare in pezzi e decomporsi
gridiamo il nostro phonos
di pura gioia ed echi di pena.

Camminiamo questo Fonocene
ad occhi chiusi bloccati
tra stupore e azione.
Cosa fare se non resistere
ed essere memoria l’uno per l’altra?
Che cosa possiamo fare
se non appartenere alla vita?

pic Phonocene, story of a woman/Fonocene, storia di una donna, Anello dei Colli Euganei, March 2024.

Phonocene/Fonocene

I recited lines of poems compiled into one long poem by Adi Magazine's Editorial team. From works by Hasheemah Afaneh, laila r. makled, Yousef Abu-Salah, Rashid Hussain (translated by Salma Harland), Bassam Jamil (translated by Nicole Mankinen), Rania Lardjane, Hani Albayarie, Summer Awad, Veera Sulaiman, Suzana Sallak, Nama’a Qudah, Michael Jabareen, Alia Yunis, Yara Ghabayen, Aiya Sakr, Edward Salem, Ahmad Mallah, Kat Abdallah, Liane Al Ghusain, Priscilla Wathington, Lisa Suhair Majaj, Farah Alhaddad, Mikhail de Parlaine, Bader Alzaharna, and Fady Joudah.  https://adimagazine.com/issues/17/   Sounds by Jeff Gburek composed from VLF, Shortwave radio captures, mixed with frame drum, synthesizer loops and other field recordings. Cease FIre Yesterday!

Cento for Falasteen

Thoughts on process & reality in the bioacousmatic field-mind. Field recordings from Mecca (via satellite), Sofia, Bulgaria, various locations Poland & Romania (special guest appearance by Phil Mill's Herons. Exploring acoustic ecology, sympoetic polyvocality, geological time factors, composite identity, long-term thinking, deconstruction of empires.  #acoustic #ecology #charlesdarwin #williammacaskill #polinabuchak #fieldrecording

Rifles & Garbage Podcast Third Edition

With You Beside Me

A work that speaks to the illusion of connection (communication) in the age of Social Media and advanced technologies. The work features an excerpt from the poem Giganti Rosse (Red Giants) by Italian sono-poet Ilaria Boffa.     https://soundcloud.com/ilaria_boffa 

"Qualche decade più oltre
ci incontreremo, mi sederò
di fronte a te e ti chiederò di nuovo
conosci il mio nome?'"

"A few decades down the line
we will meet, I will sit down across
from you and I’ll ask once more
do you know my name?'"

The Illusion Of Connection (featuring Ilaria Boffa)

Layered and filtered improvisations on synth and piano.

Planets

Ode to Failure/Ode al Fallimento is an excerpt from my latest book 'Beginnings & Other Tragedies/Inizi e Altre Tragedie', Valley Press 2023.
Field recording taken with jrf hydrophone.

'Ode to Failure

Close all the windows
check for draughts.
Let it start and flow and pass through
the furniture and the basket of linen
the dying toothpaste tube
the dogs’ eco-bags.
On each visit, it seems it never left
talkative and judgmental, it lingers.
But when we sit surrendered
it crops and trims, it asks for mercy.
This is not about falling per se
rather, about the dynamics of the fall.
Like photon wave-particle duality
and the uncertainty principle.
We can never be certain
about the position of a body in space.
If we fall it’s hard to pinpoint us
figure out where we’ll land.
It says – don’t take all the blame
I can be irrational and unwarranted
over-ascribed to your life.
Contextualise your grief.

Ode al Fallimento

Chiudete tutte le finestre
controllate gli spifferi.
Che cominci e fluttui e passi attraverso
i mobili e il cesto della biancheria
il tubetto agonizzante del dentifricio
i sacchetti bio dei cani.
A ogni visita, sembra non sia mai partito
loquace e giudicante, si attarda.
Ma quando ci sediamo arresi
ritaglia e spunta, ci chiede comprensione.
Non si tratta del cadere di per sé
piuttosto delle dinamiche della caduta.
Come la dualità di onde-particelle dei fotoni
e il principio di incertezza.
Non possiamo mai essere certi
della posizione di un corpo nello spazio.
Se cadiamo è difficile localizzarci
capire dove atterreremo.
Dice – non addossarti tutta la colpa
posso essere irrazionale e arbitrario
sovra attribuito alla tua vita.
Contestualizza la pena.'

Ode To Failure/Ode Al Fallimento

Marco Lucchi : analog synthesizer and piano

17 aprile 2024

Esatonale [7]

This podcast we go deeper into the otherness. Poems by Tony Brewer, Ilaria Boffa (English & Italiano) and recitation of Osip Mandelstam (English & Russian) by Tim Williams. It's called Rifles & Garbage Podcast in order to draw attention to outrageous military spending, ecological disaster, arms racketeering and the exploitation and/or removal of indigenous populations in favor extraction of raw materials for corporate profit. Stop that. Yikes.
https://buymeacoffee.com/jeff_gburek

Rifles & Garbage Podcast # 5

For mandolin and synthesizer drone. New album in the works.

May There Come More Bright Birds of Song to Zeitoun

Poetry, Field recording and the Human Human

'I use this space to offer an experience of Sonopoetry, the voice of verses combined with field/sound recording and music collaborations.
Writing and composition marked the passage from pre-history to history for human beings. I firmly believe that writing&listening (active care/empathy and full attention to each and every sound from each and every living and non living being) could inform, guide and represent the Posthuman era that I'll call Human Human era -from sapiens sapiens to human human.
The contemporary alliance between the disciplines of Art, Science and Philosophy elicits the conceptualisation of the Posthuman that to me also implies the transition from the Anthropocene to the Age of Art as a driver of thought and vision. I advocate the responsibility to assign a 'more than human' meaning to the Posthuman concept, that's why Human Human, in order to emphasise the human core, the genetic connection to bio and non-bio diversity as per the Biophilia Hypothesis.
Are we listening?'

Born 6 January 1972, Ilaria Boffa is an Italian poet and sound recordist. 
She has published four poetry collections and she is one of the eight authors included in the North East American Association publication ‘Writing in a Different Language’ Vol XL 2018.
Over the last years, she has been experimenting with field recording, blending her spoken word with sound.
Publications:
Beginnings & Other tragedies/Inizi e Altre Tragedie, 2023, book of poems (Eng/Ita)
https://www.valleypressuk.com/shop/p/beginnings-tragedies

About Sounds About Us/Di Suoni e di Noi, 2019, book of poems (Eng/Ita)
http://www.samueleeditore.it/about-sounds-about-us-ilaria-boffa/

Writing in A Different Language, volume XL NeMLA publications (Northeast Modern Language Association), College of New Jersey, 2018
http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/publications/nis/past/volume-xl.html

The Bliss of Hush and Wires/Periferie, 2016, book of poems (Eng/Ita)
http://www.samueleeditore.it/periferie-the-bliss-of-hush-and-wires-ilaria-boffa-2/

The Shallows, The Birds (1901 & Ilaria Boffa)

Ilaria Boffa

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