POEMS FROM THE PORTUGUESE

POEMA DE VASCO GRAÇA MOURA

rodopio

ah, as grandes
sombras da música
estirando-se na tarde!
tu dançavas nos meus sonhos
e elevavas o corpo
num rodopio de perfumes
e então era a volúpia
das palmeiras esguias
sob o vento
fazendo a luz oscilar
em ziguezagues
sobre as minhas pálpebras
e era o puro movimento,
uma cadência do ser
a modelar-te o corpo
entre citrinos

in O Caderno da Casa das Nuvens, 2010

whirl

ah, the great
shadows of music
spreading through the afternoon!
you danced in my dreams
and your body rose
in a whirl of scents
as did the voluptuousness
of the slender palms
in the wind
making the light swing
in zigzags
over my eyelids
and it was pure movement,
a cadenza of being
that modelled your body
among the lemon trees

© Translated by Ana Hudson, 2010
in Poems from the Portuguese