In the end of a melancholic world,
men read newspapers.
Unconcerned men, eating oranges
gleaming like the sun.
I was given an apple to recall
death. I know that cities are telegraphing
for kerosene. The veil I saw flying
has fallen in the desert.
The last poem will not be written
of this singular world with twelve hours.
Rather than doomsday, what worries me
is the end of dreaming.
men read newspapers.
Unconcerned men, eating oranges
gleaming like the sun.
I was given an apple to recall
death. I know that cities are telegraphing
for kerosene. The veil I saw flying
has fallen in the desert.
The last poem will not be written
of this singular world with twelve hours.
Rather than doomsday, what worries me
is the end of dreaming.
Original poem: 'O fim do mundo', by João Cabral de Melo Neto
In: 'O engenheiro', 1945