Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos

The ship of mirrors

The ship of mirrors
doesn’t sail, it gallops

Its sea is a forest
serving as level plane

At dusk its flanks
mirror the sun and moon

That’s why time loves
to lie down with it

Shipowners don’t like
its clear and bright route

(To someone in motion
it looks stationary)

When it reaches the city
no wharf gives it shelter

Its bilge brings nothing
it departs with nothing

Voices and heavy air
are all it transports

And a species of door
in its mirrored mast

Its ten thousand captains
all have the same face

The same dark belt
the same rank and office

When one man revolts
there are ten thousand mutineers

(The way objects are reflected
in the eyes of a fly)

And when one of them ascends
and his body climbs the masts
and he scans the ocean depths

The whole ship gallops
(like the stars in space)

From the world’s beginning
to the world’s end

The ship of mirrors

O navio de espelhos
não navega, cavalga

Seu mar é a floresta
que lhe serve de nível

Ao crepúsculo espelha
sol e lua nos flancos

(Por isso o tempo gosta
de deitar-se com ele)

Os armadores não amam
a sua rota clara

(Vista do movimento
dir-se-ia que pára)

Quando chega à cidade
nenhum cais o abriga

(O seu porão traz nada
nada leva à partida)

Vozes e ar pesado
é tudo o que transporta

(E no mastro espelhado
uma espécie de porta)

Seus dez mil capitães
têm o mesmo rosto

(A mesma cinta escura
o mesmo grau e posto)

Quando um se revolta
há dez mil insurrectos

(Como os olhos da mosca
reflectem os objectos)

E quando um deles ala
o corpo sobre os mastros
e escruta o mar do fundo

Toda a nave cavalga
(como no espaço os astros)

Do princípio do mundo
até ao fim do mundo
Close

The ship of mirrors

The ship of mirrors
doesn’t sail, it gallops

Its sea is a forest
serving as level plane

At dusk its flanks
mirror the sun and moon

That’s why time loves
to lie down with it

Shipowners don’t like
its clear and bright route

(To someone in motion
it looks stationary)

When it reaches the city
no wharf gives it shelter

Its bilge brings nothing
it departs with nothing

Voices and heavy air
are all it transports

And a species of door
in its mirrored mast

Its ten thousand captains
all have the same face

The same dark belt
the same rank and office

When one man revolts
there are ten thousand mutineers

(The way objects are reflected
in the eyes of a fly)

And when one of them ascends
and his body climbs the masts
and he scans the ocean depths

The whole ship gallops
(like the stars in space)

From the world’s beginning
to the world’s end

The ship of mirrors

The ship of mirrors
doesn’t sail, it gallops

Its sea is a forest
serving as level plane

At dusk its flanks
mirror the sun and moon

That’s why time loves
to lie down with it

Shipowners don’t like
its clear and bright route

(To someone in motion
it looks stationary)

When it reaches the city
no wharf gives it shelter

Its bilge brings nothing
it departs with nothing

Voices and heavy air
are all it transports

And a species of door
in its mirrored mast

Its ten thousand captains
all have the same face

The same dark belt
the same rank and office

When one man revolts
there are ten thousand mutineers

(The way objects are reflected
in the eyes of a fly)

And when one of them ascends
and his body climbs the masts
and he scans the ocean depths

The whole ship gallops
(like the stars in space)

From the world’s beginning
to the world’s end
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