Others live in the rural towns and villages of
a Portugal inside me; they come to the city
where I sometimes run into them,
and I open wide my arms with emotion.
Said Carlyle,
‘this simple Entepfuhl road,
will lead you to the end of the World.
—for the paternal hand that would guide us,
in whatever shape or form as long as it guides us,
through the world’s mystery and confusion.
Where did I take refuge? My impression is that I didn’t take refuge anywhere.
The first begins to lie in its very structure; the second in its very intention.
I want to tell you,
with the soft and soothing voice of a confessor giving counsel,
how much our yearning to attain falls short of what we do attain.
Life hurls us like a stone,
and we sail through the air saying,
‘Look at me move.
The tea arrives and the old deck of cards is
placed in a neat stack on a corner of the table.
For someone with a keen and sensitive imagination,
the adventures of a fictional protagonist are genuine emotion enough,
and more,
since they are experienced by us as well as the protagonist.
Through its veiled words and human melody,
the song told of things that are in the hearts of us all and that no one knows.
One who lives life falsely,
in dreams,
is still living life.