Drowning

An ocean I am swimming,
To fight the tide I’m trying.
I am going nowhere.
My lungs scream for air.

And as the forces strengthen
Against my own will,
My soul becomes frightened,
Beyond any thrill.

After fighting the fight,
I lose all my might,
I lose all faith
That I’ll escape my fate.

Will I death deceive?
Is this something
I should believe?

With all these doubts
I fear I won’t get out.
Get out alive, get free,
A future I can longer see.

At last my soul can rest,
After I’ve been put to the test,
I succeeded.
I didn’t drown.
I survived.

Cátia Ribeiro

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were; I have not seen

As others saw; I could not bring

My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn

Of a most stormy life- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain,

From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled

In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm,

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view.

Edgar Allan Poe

Ó sino da minha aldeia

Ó sino da minha aldeia
dolente na tarde calma,
cada tua badalada
soa dentro da minha alma...

E é tão lento o teu soar,
tão como triste da vida,
que já a primeira pancada
tem o som de repetida.

Por mais que me tanjas perto,
quando passo, sempre errante,
és para mim como um sonho,
soas-me na alma distante.

A cada pancada tua,
vibrante no céu aberto,
sinto o passado mais longe,
sinto a saudade mais perto...

Fernando Pessoa

Helplessness

A feeling of terror
Consuming me.
That’s no wonder
For I am not free.

The cause?
A demon.

A demon haunting
My past, my present.
He is causing
Within me a tempest.

Not letting go of this fear,
That causes me such pain,
I am shedding a tear,
Trapped in chains.

Chains from which I
Struggle, fighting the voice
That wonders why
I didn’t make the choice.

Cátia Ribeiro

Searching

Tens o olhar fixo.
Fixo em mim.
Fixo dentro de mim.

Os nossos olhares encontram-se
E o teu olhar
Penetra a minha alma.

Remexendo, vasculhando
À procura de algo.
“O que é?”

“O que procuras?”,
Ansiosamente pergunto.
“O que tentas tão
Desesperadamente encontrar?”


“A ti.”

Cátia Ribeiro