Poem
António Ramos Rosa
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substance
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substanceis the same as to fill the desert
with the desert’s very substance
We must go back and live in the shade
as long as the word does not exist
or as long as it is a well or a clot of time
or a pitcher turned in on its own thirst
Perhaps in opacity we will find the initial vertebra
enabling us to coincide with a movement of the universe
and to be the culmination of density
Only in this way will words be fruit of the shade
and no longer of mirrors or of towers of smoke
and like fiery antennae in the rifts of oblivion
they will initially be matter faithful to matter
© Translation: 1991, Richard Zenith
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substance
Apreender com as palavras a substância mais nocturna
é o mesmo que povoar o deserto
com a própria substância do deserto
Há que voltar atrás e viver a sombra
enquanto a palavra não existe
ou enquanto ela é uma poço ou um coágulo do tempo
ou um cântaro voltado para a sua própria sede
Talvez então no opaco encontremos a vértebra inicial
para que possamos coincidir com um gesto do universo
e ser a culminação da densidade
Só assim as palavras serão o fruto da sombra
e já não do espelho ou de torres de fumo
e como antenas de fogo nas gretas do olvido
serão inicialmente matéria fiel à matéria
é o mesmo que povoar o deserto
com a própria substância do deserto
Há que voltar atrás e viver a sombra
enquanto a palavra não existe
ou enquanto ela é uma poço ou um coágulo do tempo
ou um cântaro voltado para a sua própria sede
Talvez então no opaco encontremos a vértebra inicial
para que possamos coincidir com um gesto do universo
e ser a culminação da densidade
Só assim as palavras serão o fruto da sombra
e já não do espelho ou de torres de fumo
e como antenas de fogo nas gretas do olvido
serão inicialmente matéria fiel à matéria
© 1988, António Ramos Rosa
From: O Livro da Ignorância
Publisher: Signo, Ponta Delgada (Açores)
From: O Livro da Ignorância
Publisher: Signo, Ponta Delgada (Açores)
Poems
Poems of António Ramos Rosa
Close
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substance
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substanceis the same as to fill the desert
with the desert’s very substance
We must go back and live in the shade
as long as the word does not exist
or as long as it is a well or a clot of time
or a pitcher turned in on its own thirst
Perhaps in opacity we will find the initial vertebra
enabling us to coincide with a movement of the universe
and to be the culmination of density
Only in this way will words be fruit of the shade
and no longer of mirrors or of towers of smoke
and like fiery antennae in the rifts of oblivion
they will initially be matter faithful to matter
© 1991, Richard Zenith
From: O Livro da Ignorância
From: O Livro da Ignorância
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substance
To grasp with words the most nocturnal substanceis the same as to fill the desert
with the desert’s very substance
We must go back and live in the shade
as long as the word does not exist
or as long as it is a well or a clot of time
or a pitcher turned in on its own thirst
Perhaps in opacity we will find the initial vertebra
enabling us to coincide with a movement of the universe
and to be the culmination of density
Only in this way will words be fruit of the shade
and no longer of mirrors or of towers of smoke
and like fiery antennae in the rifts of oblivion
they will initially be matter faithful to matter
© 1991, Richard Zenith
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