Festa dei Morti:
l’uomo pingue s’accinge
a deflagrare

Feast of the Dead —
the rotund man sets about
exploding

*

a furia di arieggiare s’invola anche la salute

by dint of airing out health has flown away too

*

Dedicato ai plagiatori seriali

l’inferno attende
chi giunse in cima
con un copia e incolla

Dedicated to serial plagiarists

hell awaits
whoever got to the top
by copying and pasting

*

nel vicolo la vernice non copre la croce celtica

in the alley the paint doesn’t cover the Celtic cross

*

pellegrinaggio:
tutte le forme degli
stronzi di cane

pilgrimage —
all the shapes of
dog turds

*

vita in provincia:
nulla di più triste del
teppista anziano

life in the province —
nothing sadder than
the elderly delinquent

*

al quiz serale
dopo ogni vincita
migliora il look

on the evening quiz show
after each victory
a better outfit

*

in riverente
silenzio per Beethoven
tutte le piante

in reverential
silence for Beethoven
all the plants

Maurizio Brancaleoni lives near Rome, Italy.
He holds a master’s degree in Language and Translation Studies from Sapienza University. His haiku and senryu have appeared in Dadakuku, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Under The Bashō, Horror Senryu Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Scarlet Dragonfly, Memorie di una geisha, Rakuen, Haiku Corner, Pure Haiku, Five Fleas, Shadow Pond Journal, Haikuniverse, Asahi Haikuist, Plum Tree Tavern, Wales Haiku Journal, Kokako, Pan Haiku Review, The Wise Owl, Trash Panda, Haikukai, Password, Hedgerow, Fireflies’ Light and Modern Haiku. In 2023 one of his micropoems was nominated for a Touchstone Award, while a horror ku originally featured in the Halloween-themed issue of Scarlet Dragonfly was re-published in this year’s Dwarf Stars anthology. Maurizio manages “Leisure Spot”, a bilingual blog where he posts interviews, reviews and translations: https://leisurespotblog.blogspot.com/p/interviste-e-recensioni-interviews-and.html