Sunday, October 14, 2018

Intimacy* // Intimidade


(in four seasons // em quatro estações)
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Intimacy

on one side, the full moon
on the other, the setting sun
over there, others on their own
over here, only us, all alone
others cannot summer
the autumn-winter
that springs us

... 

 

Intimidade

de um lado, a lua cheia
do outro, o sol poente
ali, a vida alheia
aqui, é só a gente
outros não verão
o outono-inverno
que nos primavera

... 


* Free translation and the original poem, written in Brazilian Portuguese and first published in the EcosDiversos blog, in Aug.2010. The English version was first published in Lit Up in May, 2018 (https://medium.com/lit-up/intimacy-intimidade-ce308b71dd2).

Tradução livre e o poema original, escrito em Português Brasileiro e publicado pela primeira vez no blogue EcosDiversos, em agosto de 2010). A versão em inglês foi publicada pela primeira vez na revista Lit Up, em maio de 2018 (https://medium.com/lit-up/intimacy-intimidade-ce308b71dd2).

After a Long Sleep

Photo by Ian Parker on Unsplash


I wake up to this itch I cannot scratch. My whole body feels different and the capsule-like cocoon seems ready to open. I am scared and relieved at the same time.

It has been a long sleep. So long that I feel I’m not the same as I was. I can hardly remember anything from before and the general perception is definitely unfamiliar.

Drowsily, I start stretching my muscles. There’s a sudden crack sound and the cocoon begins to open. My eyes are flooded with the light from outside. I feel an electric wave go down my body and I am paralyzed for a moment. When I stretch a bit more, it hurts a little. This is a new type of pain, there’s also pleasure in it. I’m working out muscles I didn’t know I had. Maybe I didn’t, It all feels so different. The opening widens and I feel the warmth of this light. I have never appreciated this in this way before.

I keep trying to move and the gap keeps opening wider as I do.

Something outside feels cold, despite the warmth of the light. It’s a familiar feeling of being frail and exposed. Like having an oversensitive skin, it feels familiar, but not good.

I stop, gasping as if I had been doing some great effort. I need to rest for a while, to catch my breath. The light and this warm/cold feeling overwhelm me. It’s impossible to rest like this but, motionless, I try to gather my energy and find my focus.

I have no idea how long I have been quiet. Now I can move all my limbs, stretch them, slowly discovering new possibilities.

This lethargy is a blessing and so is the heat from the light.

It takes me a lifetime to step out of the cocoon. Then I discover I have wings now. I stand here, feeling my new body, breathing as deep as I can. My legs feel steadier now. I contract my abdomen and feel my wings stretching out. It’s a strange feeling, this pressure inside and the wings growing on my back. The soft breeze makes it hard to keep my balance but somehow I manage.

I don’t think I can spread my wings any further. I try to fold them back but, instead, they move up and down. I spend time learning how to move them and I sway my whole self to test my balance, the cold is gradually dissolving in the heat of this light. I love this light.

The sensitivity on the surface of my body is partially gone and I realize I am hungry. This is new, I acknowledge it and wait.

I find I can walk now, my legs are firm and I take a couple of steps. Then I tilt my body to both sides and it feels good. I discover I can move my wings faster now and I try that. My body begins to go up in the air. Scared, I stop and all goes back to normal. I wait. And my hunger grows.

I make new attempts with the wings and every time I get a little more control over them. The breeze is stronger now.

I start moving my wings and I go up in the air, to land a little far away from where I was. This feels good and I do it again. And again. And then I fly up and see a colourful spot in the distance and the word flower pops in my mind. I’m sure I have never heard it before, but flower looks attractive and I’m hungry, so I fly that way.

**************************
 April’s Prompt: Transition (2018)

Friday, March 9, 2018

Enough


Just being is reason enough.

Beautiful is reason enough.

— — — — — — — — — — — 
— — —

Just being is beautiful.


Enough.

Friday, August 31, 2012

...


Evil is to livE backwards.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

...and after all

finally 

the word
end
in itself:

end. 







afinal

a palavra
fim
em si mesma:



fim.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

diamond ring

image from here


diamond ring


just a bead of light
in this day
turned into night

-X-

anel de diamante

apenas uma réstia
neste dia
tornado noite

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Zen Blues No Blues


onde
não é um lugar
é qualquer lugar
que não aqui
em qualquer momento
que não agora

where
is not a place
it’s anywhere
but here
any time
but now


...e de que cor são teus blues?

...and what color are your blues?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Old Stuff (I)

Well, first for some old stuff.
This was written first in English, then translated into Portuguese. It was also a long time ago.

again and again, and again...

left without words we stand
on the edge of the horizon
watching the sunset
and dreaming of words never spoken.

de novo, de novo e de novo...

sem palavras, ficamos
na beira do horizonte
olhando o por-do-sol
e sonhando com palavras nunca ditas.
(29.ago.2000)