Illustration by Elisa Wouk Almino for This House by Ana Martins Marques (Scrambler Books)
The Sea
She said
the sea
said
sometimes improbable things come
not merely plastic bags cardboard wood
empty bottles condoms beer cans
also umbrellas shoes fans
and a sofa
she said
it’s possible to look
for a long time
it is here I come
to clear my eyes
she said
those who were born far from
the sea
those who never saw
the sea
what will they make
of the limitless?
what will they make
of leaving?
will they think of taking a long road
and not looking back?
think of airport
highways
border controls?
when they say
I want to kill myself
will they think of blades
guns
poison?
for I only think
of the sea
One day
We didn’t sleep;
we believed the night
could be replaced by coffee
and it was
our round heads
under a round moon
we were saved by the small restaurant open until so
[late]
keeping in its heart bright red
soup
you carried in your pockets
coins from three countries
dawn came like the cover
of a notebook
we talked as though writing subtitles
for photographs
we wanted so much
so little
we took the bus
at the last minute
traveled
side by side
like a bilingual
edition
TRANSLATED BY Elisa wouk almino
* * *
Ana Martins Marques was born in Belo Horizonte in 1977. She has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. She is the author of three poetry collections, A vida submarina (2009), Da arte das armadilhas (2011), and O livro das semelhanças (2015). Da arte das armadilhas won the Brazilian National Library Foundation Prize and was shortlisted for the Portugal Telecom Award.
Elisa Wouk Almino is a translator from Portuguese and the associate editor of Hyperallergic. Her forthcoming translated collection of poetry by Ana Martins Marques, This House, will be published in June by Scrambler Books. Her writing and translations have appeared in Guernica Magazine, Stonecutter Journal, n+1, Ugly Duckling Presse’s 6×6 Journal, Asymptote Journal, harlequin creature, and Words Without Borders.
Readers are encouraged to submit 3–5 poems as a PDF to Wendy Xu for consideration at poetry@hyperallergic.com.
