On the lip of the wind I dither:
An ancient love memory
makes me quiver, scattering butterflies.
We are transfixed by melancholy
as portraits from the year 1613.
A conversation makes out beyond the abyss
Between Jeronimo the florist
And the fishmonger's daughter-in-law.
From this balcony rises the night sea
Fiercely.
But there is something even fiercer
Bearing the dead inside shells:
The mechanical ghost of War
Who passes by
With its fascinator of smoke and blood.
An ancient love memory
makes me quiver, scattering butterflies.
We are transfixed by melancholy
as portraits from the year 1613.
A conversation makes out beyond the abyss
Between Jeronimo the florist
And the fishmonger's daughter-in-law.
From this balcony rises the night sea
Fiercely.
But there is something even fiercer
Bearing the dead inside shells:
The mechanical ghost of War
Who passes by
With its fascinator of smoke and blood.
Original poem: 'Perturbação', by Murilo Mendes
In: 'Mundo Enigma', 1945