Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

José Tolentino Mendonça

EXCEPT FOR YOU

What’s said about winter may be said about youth
it’s an abstract season
at a certain moment we feel suddenly cold
as if time no longer consented
the unexpected rapture which often
too often stems from that truth

But there’s something whose crux
is farther or nearer

You don’t even know for how many years
you’ll keep going back to the woods
to the details you ignored
to the remnants of that first love
we all think we’ve gotten over

MENOS PARA TI

MENOS PARA TI

O que se diz do inverno pode dizer-se da juventude
é uma estação abstracta
numa hora qualquer acabamos com frio
o desprovido transporte que por vezes
demasiadas vezes é o daquela verdade

Mas o jogo de alguma coisa
está mais longe ou mais perto

Nem tu sabes por quantos anos ainda
voltarás aos bosques
aos detalhes que ignoravas
ao que resta do primeiro amor
a que todos pensam ter sobrevivido
Close

EXCEPT FOR YOU

What’s said about winter may be said about youth
it’s an abstract season
at a certain moment we feel suddenly cold
as if time no longer consented
the unexpected rapture which often
too often stems from that truth

But there’s something whose crux
is farther or nearer

You don’t even know for how many years
you’ll keep going back to the woods
to the details you ignored
to the remnants of that first love
we all think we’ve gotten over

EXCEPT FOR YOU

What’s said about winter may be said about youth
it’s an abstract season
at a certain moment we feel suddenly cold
as if time no longer consented
the unexpected rapture which often
too often stems from that truth

But there’s something whose crux
is farther or nearer

You don’t even know for how many years
you’ll keep going back to the woods
to the details you ignored
to the remnants of that first love
we all think we’ve gotten over
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