No espelho In the mirror

No espelho

No espelho
enigmagem inimaginável?
Não. Nem. Mas
não me passo mais a limpo.
Vou de cinza
Dorian Grey sujeito
(oculto) a chuvas e trovoadas
e só paro quando meu sangue
calar a boca de todo.
As letras já me salvaram
do despenhadeiro:
SOS XPTO R.S.V.P.
Passeio completo etc.
 

In the mirror

In the mirror
unimaginable enigmage?
No. Nor. But.
I will never write myself again.
I will wear grey
a Dorian Grey subject
(occluded) from rain and thunder
and I'll only stop when my blood
shuts its mouth as a whole.
Letters have already saved me
from the precipice:
SOS VIP RSVP
Black tie, etc.
 

‘Enigmage’ was a word we tranported from the original: a fusion of ‘enigma’ and ‘image’. Dorian Grey, of course, is Oscar Wilde’s creation, a man who never appears to age while, in his attic, his portrait gets increasingly wrinkled.

*’ passar a limpo’ (idiom) wipe myself clean/wash myself clean; making something more presentable after several drafts; usually has to do with writing or drawing.

We managed some word play of our own: ‘shuts its mouth as a whole’, the play in English on the mouth as a ‘hole’ and to shut something ‘as a whole’, i.e. completely.

Sarah Maguire, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Armando Freitas Filho

Translated by

Francisco Vilhena with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Portuguese

Country

Brazil