To the memory of Ivete Monteiro
The petals fall.
One by one
They fall from the kapok
Over the afternoon’s skin.
We arrived from all over, lonely
Eviscerating
The cords of time
With our nails.
While the cold withers
We found the song.
~ Conceição Lima, trans. from Portuguese by David Shook
Conceição Lima is a Santomean poet from the town of Santana in São Tomé. She studied journalism in Portugal and has worked in radio, television, and in the print press in her native country. She has published three books of poetry: ‘O Útero da Casa’, ‘A Dolorosa Raiz do Micondó’, and ‘O País de Akendenguê’.
David Shook is a poet and translator. He lives in LA, where he is editor of Phoneme Media.