Alberto Estima de Oliveira — O Diálogo do Silêncio / The Dialogue of Silence 19

I banged this one out really fast, and I'm fairly happy with it. I really like prose poetry, so this was a treat to read and translate.

The typesetting in the Portuguese original is weird; the line breaks aren't natural on the page, so I recreated it as it appears. I didn't bother doing that with the English version.



19


falava-se de mistérios na casa antiga entre sorrisos e
música gravada.
um jacto de luz iluminava a pequena palmeira confi-
dente das palavras.
o telefone negro gritava a sua presença ávido de notí-
cias.
no tecto, em girândola, as pás de ventoinha desenha-
vam círculos.
era madrugada.
uma certa disponibilidade soltava-se das mãos, ocu-
padas na lenta combustão dos cigarros. os copos re-
flectiam-se no lago da mesa articulando o interior dos
sons, rebuscando no tempo a intimidade dos sentidos.
nos rostos insinuavam-se conflitos controlados.

a viagem existe, o navio ancorado nas colunas da
mente espera o grito da largada.

no cais enorme soltam-se os passos do timoneiro.
tensas mantêm-se as amarras.


-----


19


there was talk of mysteries in the old house, among
smiles and recorded music.
a spray of light illuminated the little palm tree,
sure of its words.
the black telephone shouted its presence, eager
with news.
on the ceiling, pinwheeling, the fan blades
drew circles.
it was dawn.
a certain willingness leapt from our hands, busy
with the slow lighting of cigarettes. the cups
reflected in the lake of the tabletop articulated
the interior of sounds, digging through time for
the intimacy of feelings.
our faces suggested controlled conflicts.

the voyage exists, the ship anchored to the columns
of the mind, awaiting the call for departure.

the helmsman's footsteps are aimless on the huge pier.
the mooring lines remain taut.