Cheikh Tidiane Gaye [Senegal / Italy]

 

Writings fly
 
I burned verses, with no name, no roots
To build castles of rhymes, erected as monuments,
I buried as dead books with insipid pages,
so as not to ask uncertain tomorrows to bear witness.
I have hung a thousand sounds I no longer wish to hear,
For they spawn mournful rhythms.
 
In the night I told the stars to smile,
asked the moon to shine, and the sun not not rise
to awaken in the morning,
Because what remains does not fly.
 
It is the pure sound of vowels, the sweetness of a look,
that kisses the scent of newborn babes.
It will be the fire that warms the spirit,
the sword that strikes the mind,
each page of mine awakens the solstices,
the strength to think and to speak,
To lift the weight of time in the temple of wisdom.
Though writings fly, one will remain:
the one of poetic truth.
 
 
I am the apprentice
 
In life, everyone is an apprentice.
I dwell in the night, ready to welcome the hurricane.
The lamp of my heart radiates strength,
a force that strengthens my thought.
My thought courts the shade of burning trees,
the dry branches I remove from my path light a fire.
The leaves, like my shadow,
are woven into the notes of the night's violins,
beating the breath of memory.
 
I cultivate a garden, I plant letters,
I water the soil, without fertilizer,
And I make the lyre bloom that will guide my newfound steps.
I will raise the bow, the iron, the sword,
I will be the man, the poet who seeks the darkness,
the poet with the honeyed tongue,
the poet whose gaze embraces infinity,
the poet who loves, who knows he loves and catches the breath of love.
I take up and hang up every syllable,
every rhyme, in every place,
to build a path that sings,
not screams.
 
 
Prayer in the shadows
 
I pray before the darkness, to sing peace,
I burrow into the hands of heaven to feed my dreams of silences.
The stars, witnesses of a shattered past,
whisper to me secrets of a lost world.
The voice of bloodied lands calls to me,
and foretells a future marked by ancient suffering.
Cheeks still flooded with fierce tears,
cannot extinguish the fire that burns beneath my skin.
I seek shadows to protect my thoughts,
echoes of a time when the wind blew more fiercely.
 
I burrow into the darkness, searching for a light,
and find words lost among the stones of silence.
The earth still rings with the cries of the past,
a song of revolt, a promise of hope.
I bow before the sea, witness to the dream,
and let its waves wash the dust of the world from me.
For, in every drop, a future is reborn.
And under the skies, shadows turn to the light,
of a truth that only the soul can see.
 
 
Author’s Bionote:
 
*Cheikh Tidiane Gaye (born in Senegal and naturalized Italian) is a Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at a secondary school in Milan. He holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophical Methodologies from the University of Genoa and a PhD from Paris Nanterre University (France) in Languages, Civilizations and Romance Literatures, specializing in Italian Studies. The first African writer to translate the works of Léopold Sédar Senghor into Italian, he is a poet, novelist, essayist, and cultural promoter. His works have been the subject of academic studies and have been translated into several languages, including English, Romanian, German, Serbian, and Albanian.His poetry collections include “Il canto del Djali” (2007), “Ode nascente – Ode naissante” (2009), “Curve alfabetiche” (2011), “Rime abbracciate – L’étreinte des rimes” (2012), “Il sangue delle parole” (2018), “Ma terre mon sang” (2018), “Ombra” (2022), “Les litanies du cœur” (2023). His work has appeared in numerous poetry anthologies, and he has served on national and international literary juries. He has received important recognitions in Italy and Europe for his contribution to literature and intercultural dialogue. He is the founder of the International Poetry Prize “Sulle orme di Léopold Sédar Senghor” and President of the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Academy. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Letters and Languages and the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.