Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Lêdo Ivo

PROMONTORY

I always sought the profusion of the rains
and celebrated excess.

The door that opens on the clarity of lightning
divides the day into unequal parts.
But between the light and shadow there is a space
where dream and waking life join like two bodies
separated from their severed souls.
It is to this place that I return
when the rain falls in Maceió, dislodging the leaves
of the blossoming cashew trees.
The restless crabs notice in their tiny dens the changing of the world
that wavers between mud and mango roots
like two colors in a rainbow.

Cradle of tanajura ants, land threatened by thunder,
sleep-walking dunes that only walk at night,
sea that moistens the cracked lips of the sand,
wind that tears at the promontory,
far from you I’ll be in banishment.

VOORGEBERGTE

Ik heb de overvloed der regens steeds gezocht
en het onmatige verheerlijkt.
 
De deur die voor het weerlicht opengaat
verdeelt de dag in ongelijke delen.
Maar tussen licht en schaduw is een ruimte
waar droom en het wakkere leven samengaan zoals twee lijven
los van de onverzoende zielen.
Hierheen keer ik terug
wanneer de regen valt in Maceió en hij de bladeren
van de bloeiende kasjoebomen rukt.
De bange blauwe krabben voelen in hun holen de verwarring van de wereld
die golft tussen de modder en de wortels der mangroven
als twee kleuren van de regenboog.
 
Wieg van de vliegende mieren, mijn land door de donder bedreigd,
slaapwandelende duinen die slechts ‘savonds wandelen,
zee die de gekloofde lippen van het zand bevochtigt,
wind die het voorgebergte vaneenscheurt,
ver van u ben ik een banneling.

PROMONTÓRIO

Sempre busquei a profusão das chuvas
e celebrei o excesso.

A porta que se abre à claridade do relâmpago
divide o dia em partes desiguais.
Mas entre a luz e a sombra há um espacço
onde o sonho e a vida acordada se juntam como dois corpos
separados das almas desunidas.
É a este lugar que retorno
quando a chuva cai em Maceió e derruba as folhas
dos cajueiros floridos.
Os goiamuns inquietos percebem nas locas a alteração do mundo
que oscila entre a lama e as raízes dos mangues
como duas cores do arco-íris.

Berço de tanajuras, patria ameaçada pelo trovão,
dunas sonâmbulas que só caminham à noite,
mar que umedece os lábios rachados da areia,
vento que dilacera o promontório,
longe de vós serei um exilado.
Close

PROMONTORY

I always sought the profusion of the rains
and celebrated excess.

The door that opens on the clarity of lightning
divides the day into unequal parts.
But between the light and shadow there is a space
where dream and waking life join like two bodies
separated from their severed souls.
It is to this place that I return
when the rain falls in Maceió, dislodging the leaves
of the blossoming cashew trees.
The restless crabs notice in their tiny dens the changing of the world
that wavers between mud and mango roots
like two colors in a rainbow.

Cradle of tanajura ants, land threatened by thunder,
sleep-walking dunes that only walk at night,
sea that moistens the cracked lips of the sand,
wind that tears at the promontory,
far from you I’ll be in banishment.

PROMONTORY

I always sought the profusion of the rains
and celebrated excess.

The door that opens on the clarity of lightning
divides the day into unequal parts.
But between the light and shadow there is a space
where dream and waking life join like two bodies
separated from their severed souls.
It is to this place that I return
when the rain falls in Maceió, dislodging the leaves
of the blossoming cashew trees.
The restless crabs notice in their tiny dens the changing of the world
that wavers between mud and mango roots
like two colors in a rainbow.

Cradle of tanajura ants, land threatened by thunder,
sleep-walking dunes that only walk at night,
sea that moistens the cracked lips of the sand,
wind that tears at the promontory,
far from you I’ll be in banishment.
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