A Despedida

Um navio na costa
Prepara-se para partir.
E a mulher que lá está
Observa o marido ir.

Observa e observa,
Não se atreve a mais,
Pois sabe que se se mexer
Vai começar aos ais.

A tal ela se atreve,
E a dor desperta.
Dor intensa que tanto
O seu coração aperta.

Aperta e aperta,
Esmaga-lhe a alma.
A dor é tanta
Que ela perde a calma.

Grita ao navio,
Chama o marido.
Sente o seu amor
A ficar perdido.

O marido corre à proa
Despede-se da amada
E a sua alma
Fica pesada.

Pesa e pesa a dor
No seu coração.
E cai uma lágrima
De tanta emoção.

Este momento fica,
Para sempre, gravado,
E no tempo fica
Eternamente parado.

Cátia Ribeiro

Hurtful

Searching the surroundings
for one sign of hope.
Any sign.
Just a sign.

The lightless sky,
makes it hard to see.
The rotted smell,
hanging in the air,
makes it hard to breathe.

Hours, days go by
and then the clouds
go away, vanishing,
letting the light in.

I close my eyes,
for the bright light hurts.
After a while,
I get used to it.
And it doesn't hurt
that much anymore.
Oh, how I wish now
that it did.

How I wish I could
not see the reason
of the unbearable smell
hanging in the air,
that had already got
inside my lungs,
making me stand it.

How I wish I could
not see your lifeless face,
lying motionless on the ground,
right in front of me.

Oh! Bring back the clouds,
Take the light away,
Make my memory fade,
for I do not want to
live in a world you
no longer exist.

Cátia Ribeiro

Madness

Sometimes, my mind
Plays tricks on me.
It makes me believe in something
That isn’t true.


My sanity is weaker
Than this thing…
This… madness.


But I’m telling you,
Someday…
Someday all this will end.
And I’ll be in my coffin, resting…
‘Till the end of time…

Cátia Ribeiro

The North Ship - XXIV

Love, we must part now: do not let it be
Calamitous and bitter. In the past
There has been too much moonlight and self-pity:
Let us have done with it: for now at last
Never has sun more boldly paced the sky,
To kick down worlds, lash forests; you and I
No longer hold them; we are husks, that see
The grain going forward to a different use.

There is regret. Always, there is regret.
But it is better that our lives unloose,
As two tall ships, wind-mastered, wet with light,
Break from an estuary with their courses set,
And waving part, and waving drop from sight.

Philip Larkin

Podemos...?

Podemos esquecer
Tudo o que passou
E parar tudo e todos
Num momento de felicidade?

Podemos voltar
Atrás no tempo,
E mais uma vez
Sermos felizes?

Podemos ter
Tudo o que
Sempre quisemos
Agora e para sempre?

Cátia Ribeiro

A tua ausência é, em cada momento, a tua ausência

A tua ausência é, em cada momento, a tua ausência.
Não esqueço que os teus lábios existem longe de mim.
Aqui há casas vazias. Há cidades desertas. Há lugares.

Mas eu lembro que o tempo é outra coisa, e tenho
tanta pena de perder um instante dos teus cabelos.

Aqui não há palavras. Há a tua ausência. Há o medo sem os
teus lábios, sem os teus cabelos. Fecho os olhos para te ver
e para não chorar.

José Luís Peixoto, "O Amor é Impossível" in "A Casa, A Escuridão"

Words, Words...

My words are disappearing…
I don’t know what to say…


Sometimes in my life,
There’s a time when I need to say somethin’
But I can’t open my mouth.


I wanna say to people that I love them,
But no words come out of my mouth.


My voice fails
And they don’t hear
What they need to hear sometimes…


And there are times
When I’m feeling ready to say it,
But it’s not the right time.


Sometimes I wish
They could listen to my thoughts
And they’d know everything they need to know…


I love you…
That’s all I wanted to say…

Cátia Ribeiro

Feelings

I love him so much.
But I just can’t say a word.
I wish I could just hate him.
It would make things so much simpler.


But what would be really great
Is not to feel a thing.
Every time I see him,
My heart beats faster.


To hide that “passion”,
I just say that I hate him.
But it’s not true.


This great number of feelings
Just drives me nuts.
It’s him, my friends, my family…
All the people I know.


Sometimes I think about
Killing myself.
But that’s a problem, too.


I’m afraid of death,
Thought I loved it.
I have a big attraction to it,
But I don’t think I’ll embrace it
Anytime soon.


Of all these feelings,
Love, hate, passion…
Fear is the strongest.

I’m afraid of everything.
I’m afraid of love,
Afraid of death,
Afraid of my friends, my family…


But most of all,
I think I’m afraid of myself.
Afraid of who I am.
Afraid of who I can be.

Cátia Ribeiro

Half Dead

Sitting on a chair,
Thinking about my life,
I realize I’m not actually a thing.

I’m half dead.
I notice no one.
No one notices me.

If my wishes could come true,
I’d wish I was dead.
No one to bother me.
No one to bother.

Cátia Ribeiro