Poem
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
Furies
Banished from sin and the sacredNow they inhabit the humble intimacy
Of daily life. They are
The leaky faucet the late bus
The soup that boils over
The lost pen the vacuum that doesn’t vacuum
The taxi that doesn’t come the mislaid receipt
Shoving pushing waiting
Bureaucratic madness
Without shouting or staring
Without bristly serpent hair
With the meticulous hands of the day-to-day
They undo us
They’re the peculiar wonder of the modern world
Faceless and maskless
Nameless and breathless
The thousand-headed hydras of efficiency gone haywire
They no longer pursue desecrators and parricides
They prefer innocent victims
Who did nothing to provoke them
Thanks to them the day loses its smooth expanses
Its juice of ripe fruits
Its fragrance of flowers
Its high-sea passion
And time is transformed
Into toil and the rush
Against time
© Translation: 2004, Richard Zenith
Fúrias
Fúrias
Escorraçadas do pecado e do sagradoHabitam agora a mais íntima humildade
Do quotidiano. São
Torneira que se estraga atraso de autocarro
Sopa que transborda na panela
Caneta que se perde aspirador que não aspira
Táxi que não há recibo estraviado
Empurrão cotovelada espera
Burocrático desvario
Sem clamor sem olhar
Sem cabelos eriçados de serpentes
Com as meticulosas mãos do dia-a-dia
Elas nos desfiam
Elas são a peculiar maravilha do mundo moderno
Sem rosto e sem máscara
Sem nome e sem sopro
São as hidras de mil cabeças da eficácia que se avaria
Já não perseguem sacrílegos e parricidas
Preferem vítimas inocentes
Que de forma nenhuma as provocaram
Por elas o dia perde seus longos planos lisos
Seu sumo de fruta
Sua fragrância de flor
Seu marinho alvoroço
E o tempo é transformado
Em tarefa e pressa
A contratempo
© 1991, Sophia de Mello Breyner
From: Obra Poética III
Publisher: Caminho, Lisboa
From: Obra Poética III
Publisher: Caminho, Lisboa
Poems
Poems of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
Close
Furies
Banished from sin and the sacredNow they inhabit the humble intimacy
Of daily life. They are
The leaky faucet the late bus
The soup that boils over
The lost pen the vacuum that doesn’t vacuum
The taxi that doesn’t come the mislaid receipt
Shoving pushing waiting
Bureaucratic madness
Without shouting or staring
Without bristly serpent hair
With the meticulous hands of the day-to-day
They undo us
They’re the peculiar wonder of the modern world
Faceless and maskless
Nameless and breathless
The thousand-headed hydras of efficiency gone haywire
They no longer pursue desecrators and parricides
They prefer innocent victims
Who did nothing to provoke them
Thanks to them the day loses its smooth expanses
Its juice of ripe fruits
Its fragrance of flowers
Its high-sea passion
And time is transformed
Into toil and the rush
Against time
© 2004, Richard Zenith
From: Obra Poética III
From: Obra Poética III
Furies
Banished from sin and the sacredNow they inhabit the humble intimacy
Of daily life. They are
The leaky faucet the late bus
The soup that boils over
The lost pen the vacuum that doesn’t vacuum
The taxi that doesn’t come the mislaid receipt
Shoving pushing waiting
Bureaucratic madness
Without shouting or staring
Without bristly serpent hair
With the meticulous hands of the day-to-day
They undo us
They’re the peculiar wonder of the modern world
Faceless and maskless
Nameless and breathless
The thousand-headed hydras of efficiency gone haywire
They no longer pursue desecrators and parricides
They prefer innocent victims
Who did nothing to provoke them
Thanks to them the day loses its smooth expanses
Its juice of ripe fruits
Its fragrance of flowers
Its high-sea passion
And time is transformed
Into toil and the rush
Against time
© 2004, Richard Zenith
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