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I say:
Lisbon When I cross the river - coming from the south- And the city I approach opens as though born from its name Opens and surges into its night-time spaces Into its long shining of blue and river Its body of shaped hills- I see it better because I speak It all shows better because I speak Exposes better its being and need Because I say Lisbon, that name of being and non-being With its secret meanders of amazement, insomnia, and tin shacks And secret glitter of something theatrical Its conniving smile of intrigue and masks While the wide ocean dilates west Lisbon rocking like a great boat Lisbon cruelly built along its own absence I say the city’s name I say it in order to see Sophia de Mello Breyner (translated by Ruth Fainlight) |
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