No teu poema [English translation]

In your poem

There is a blank verse, unmeasured

A body that breaths, an open sky

A window leaning towards life

In your poem there is a deep silent pain

the courage to step into a house in darkness

With a veranda opened to the world

It has the night

The smile and your voice remade in the daylight

The celebration of the saints

and the tiredness

Of a body falling asleep in a cold bed

In it, a river

The fate of those born weak or strong

The risk, the rage and the struggle of one who falls

or that persists

That defeats or falls asleep before his death

In your poem

There is the drill and the echo of shrapnel

A pain I know by heart but will not recite

And the restless dreams of one who fails

In your poem

We hear a traditional folk song

A street and the sounding cries of a fishmonger wife

A boat pushed ahead on set sails

In it, a river

A melody sung in harmony, with reliant voices

a lonely Om

and a single destiny in which to embark

At the pier, the new ship of discoveries

In it, a river

The fate of those born weak or strong

The risk, the rage and the struggle of one who falls

or that persists

That defeats or falls asleep before his death

In your poem

There is the burning hope behind the wall

And all else that still eludes me

and yet still a blank verse waiting for the future

• Artist:Carlos do Carmo