Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Adília Lopes

Candy

She dropped the photograph
and when a stranger ran up from behind
to give it to her
she refused to touch it
but you dropped it miss
I couldn’t have dropped it
because it isn’t mine
she didn’t want anyone
and especially not a stranger
to suspect there was any relation
between her and the photograph
it was as if she’d dropped
a blood-soaked handkerchief
because she was the one in the photograph
and nothing belongs to us more than blood
which is why when someone pricks their finger
they stick it right in their mouth to suck the blood
the stranger understood
it’s a picture of you miss
it may be a picture of someone who looks just like me
but it isn’t me
the stranger was a kind person
he didn’t insist
and since he knew beggars
don’t have money for taking pictures
he gave the photograph to a beggar
who ate it up like candy

Um figo

Um figo

Deixou cair a fotografia
um desconhecido correu atrás dela
para lha entregar
ela recusou-se a pegar na fotografia
mas a senhora deixou cair isto
eu não posso ter deixado cair isto
porque isto não é meu
não queria que ninguém
e sobretudo um desconhecido
suspeitasse que havia uma relação
entre ela e a fotografia
era como se tivesse deixado cair
um lenço cheio de sangue
porque era ela quem estava na fotografia
e nada nos pertence tanto como o sangue
por isso quando uma pessoa se pica num dedo
leva logo o dedo à boca para chupar o sangue
o desconhecido apercebeu-se disso
é um retrato da senhora
pode ser o retrato de alguém muito parecido comigo
mas não sou eu
o desconhecido por ser muito bondoso
não insistiu
e como sabia que os mendigos
não têm dinheiro para tirar fotografias
deu a fotografia a um mendigo
que lhe chamou um figo
Close

Candy

She dropped the photograph
and when a stranger ran up from behind
to give it to her
she refused to touch it
but you dropped it miss
I couldn’t have dropped it
because it isn’t mine
she didn’t want anyone
and especially not a stranger
to suspect there was any relation
between her and the photograph
it was as if she’d dropped
a blood-soaked handkerchief
because she was the one in the photograph
and nothing belongs to us more than blood
which is why when someone pricks their finger
they stick it right in their mouth to suck the blood
the stranger understood
it’s a picture of you miss
it may be a picture of someone who looks just like me
but it isn’t me
the stranger was a kind person
he didn’t insist
and since he knew beggars
don’t have money for taking pictures
he gave the photograph to a beggar
who ate it up like candy

Candy

She dropped the photograph
and when a stranger ran up from behind
to give it to her
she refused to touch it
but you dropped it miss
I couldn’t have dropped it
because it isn’t mine
she didn’t want anyone
and especially not a stranger
to suspect there was any relation
between her and the photograph
it was as if she’d dropped
a blood-soaked handkerchief
because she was the one in the photograph
and nothing belongs to us more than blood
which is why when someone pricks their finger
they stick it right in their mouth to suck the blood
the stranger understood
it’s a picture of you miss
it may be a picture of someone who looks just like me
but it isn’t me
the stranger was a kind person
he didn’t insist
and since he knew beggars
don’t have money for taking pictures
he gave the photograph to a beggar
who ate it up like candy
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