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Selected Poems of
Maria Teresa Horta

Translated by:

M.B. McLatchey and Edite Cunhã

Published in Alchemy,  2020

16

THE CONDITION OF THE VERSES

THE CONDITION OF THE VERSES

I am of the condition
of the verses
with eagerness rescued

I have a pact with the angels
I recognize the trace of light
I want the rigor of words

I sing the flame
of poetry
in the most bitter extravagance

I write the excess
with the pain of the blaze
in the desire to be the splendor

And if in each poem
I invent flight
with my poetic voice

I choose lava

DA CONDIÇÃO DOS VERSOS

Sou da condição
dos versos
com avidez resgatada

Tenho um trato com os anjos
conheço o traço da luz
quero o rigor das palavras

Canto a chama
da poesia
na desmesura mais amarga

Escrevo o excesso
com a pena do fulgor
no desejo de ser o esplendor

E se em cada poema
invento o voo
com a minha voz poética

eu escolho a lava

Copyright © 2019  M. B. McLatchey & 

Edite Cunha, with permission. All rights reserved.
Published in Alchemy, Issue 17, Summer 2020

Copyright © 2017  Maria Teresa Horta, 

from her collection Poesis.
Dom Quixote Publisher, Lisbon.

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