Innocence
rough mornings
burn away sleep
and fever fizzes up the most vertical of words.
your finger on my name exerts agonising pressure
and a spasm runs through this text
while hell is slowly hatching inside my chest
like a snake creeping into the unsteady hollows of the hours.
sparks fly out of books
and the flames urgently heal each less intended breath
but there are assignments less sweet than others
and there are syllables set to vibrate
in the core of the deepest innocence.
© Translated by Ana Hudson, 2013
First Published on Poems From the Portuguese
burn away sleep
and fever fizzes up the most vertical of words.
your finger on my name exerts agonising pressure
and a spasm runs through this text
while hell is slowly hatching inside my chest
like a snake creeping into the unsteady hollows of the hours.
sparks fly out of books
and the flames urgently heal each less intended breath
but there are assignments less sweet than others
and there are syllables set to vibrate
in the core of the deepest innocence.
© Translated by Ana Hudson, 2013
First Published on Poems From the Portuguese
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