two poems by Hilda Hilst, brazilian poet ( 1930-2004)

from “TEN OVERTURES TO THE BELOVED”

 

"If you find me nocturnal and flawed

Look again.  Because tonight

I looked at me as though you were looking.

And it was like water

Wanting

 

To slip its home from the river

Without even touching the bank.

 

I looked at you. I’ve known for so long

That I’m land.  For so long

I’ve prayed

Your body of water most fraternal

Would stretch out over mine.  Shepherd and sailor

 

Look again. Less loftiness.

More care."

(tr. Beatrice Bastos)

_____________________

Desire

"Because there is desire within me, everything glimmers.
Before, daily life was thinking of heights
Seeking Another decanted
Deaf to my human bark.
Sap and sweat, they never came to be.
Today, flesh and bones, laborious, lascivious
You take my body. And what rest you give me
After the readings. I dreamt of cliffs
When there was a garden by my side.
I thought of climbs where there were no signs.
Ecstatic, I fuck you
Instead of yapping at Nothingness."

(tr. Lavinia Saad)