Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Luís Quintais

THE WORLD AS REPRESENTATION

“The world is my representation.”
What type of image
flashes in my mind
when, at night, a dog howls
as if its flesh
were not flesh of its flesh
but a thick veil
covering its pain
and making it sharper?

I fling open a window
and pursue the trail and the rage
of that extraordinary dog,
that dog that exists somewhere
past seeing.

The night I’d ignored becomes visible,
but not that rage, that dog’s absolute rage,
even though my eyes go blind
from searching, with a desperate will,
for light.

O mundo como representação

O mundo como representação

“O mundo é a minha representação.”
Que tipo de imagem
eclode na mente
quando, de noite, um cão uiva,
como se a sua carne
não fosse carne da sua carne,
mas um véu espesso
que cobre a dor
e a torna mais intensa?

Uma janela abre-se de par em par,
e eu persigo os sulcos e a ira
desse cão mirífico,
desse cão que existe algures
para lá do ver.

A noite que ignorei torna-se visível,
mas não a ira, a ira absoluta do cão,
ainda que os meus olhos
ceguem numa exasperante vontade
de luz.
Close

THE WORLD AS REPRESENTATION

“The world is my representation.”
What type of image
flashes in my mind
when, at night, a dog howls
as if its flesh
were not flesh of its flesh
but a thick veil
covering its pain
and making it sharper?

I fling open a window
and pursue the trail and the rage
of that extraordinary dog,
that dog that exists somewhere
past seeing.

The night I’d ignored becomes visible,
but not that rage, that dog’s absolute rage,
even though my eyes go blind
from searching, with a desperate will,
for light.

THE WORLD AS REPRESENTATION

“The world is my representation.”
What type of image
flashes in my mind
when, at night, a dog howls
as if its flesh
were not flesh of its flesh
but a thick veil
covering its pain
and making it sharper?

I fling open a window
and pursue the trail and the rage
of that extraordinary dog,
that dog that exists somewhere
past seeing.

The night I’d ignored becomes visible,
but not that rage, that dog’s absolute rage,
even though my eyes go blind
from searching, with a desperate will,
for light.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère