Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Daniel Faria

There are many metres between an animal that flies

There are many metres between an animal that flies
And the ladder I’m descending to go sit on the ground
But all I need is a square of peace and quiet
To have absolute distance

The window I definitively lean out of is beyond what can be seen
It’s not an apparition
Nor can it be reached without falling forward

Only where the landscape ends do I stand like a parachutist coming down
Suspended like the saints in a mystical rapture
Risen like an angel on its wings
And I feel lofty like a star. A cloud
In the form of a man
Levitating

There are many metres between an animal that flies

Há muitos metros entre um animal que voa
E a escada que desço para me sentar no chão
Mas basta-me um quadrado de sossego
Para a distância absoluta

Está para além do que se vê a janela onde me debruço definitivo
Não é uma aparição
Nem se pode alcançar sem se ir em frente caindo

Só no fim da paisagem estou de pé como um para-quedista que desce
Suspenso como os santos num arroubo místico
Erguido como um anjo em suas asas
E sinto-me ser alto como um astro. Nuvem
Como se fosse um homem
Que levita
Close

There are many metres between an animal that flies

There are many metres between an animal that flies
And the ladder I’m descending to go sit on the ground
But all I need is a square of peace and quiet
To have absolute distance

The window I definitively lean out of is beyond what can be seen
It’s not an apparition
Nor can it be reached without falling forward

Only where the landscape ends do I stand like a parachutist coming down
Suspended like the saints in a mystical rapture
Risen like an angel on its wings
And I feel lofty like a star. A cloud
In the form of a man
Levitating

There are many metres between an animal that flies

There are many metres between an animal that flies
And the ladder I’m descending to go sit on the ground
But all I need is a square of peace and quiet
To have absolute distance

The window I definitively lean out of is beyond what can be seen
It’s not an apparition
Nor can it be reached without falling forward

Only where the landscape ends do I stand like a parachutist coming down
Suspended like the saints in a mystical rapture
Risen like an angel on its wings
And I feel lofty like a star. A cloud
In the form of a man
Levitating
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère