Blackbird
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Published two years after his death, The Blackbird is Gianni Siccardi's final collection but the first of his books to appear in English. A profound, poetic exploration into the world of the Argentinian blackbird, the book blends blackbird with forest, with earth and sky, with dream, with song and, ultimately, with poetry itself. This bilingual edition includes a moving introduction by Gianni's son, Eugenio. Also an accomplished poet, Eugenio describes The Blackbird as the culmination of a life time of poetic enquiry, realising "the most profound moments of his oeuvre."The Blackbird is a powerful record of a sustained, vital encounter between blackbird and poet, sky and song, poetry and poem, and a memorable introduction to this important Argentinian writer."The Spanish word for blackbird, mirlo, sounds like a compression of the command: !Miralo! Look at it! Gianni Sicardi responded patiently and gave us these many more than thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird, which Stuart Cooke has rendered into English with sensitivity and sparkle. The Blackbird is a poetic scale model of the cosmos, revolving around a common prodigy of song." Chris Andrews