Paolo Leminski, tr. Charles Bernstein and Régis Bonvicino

[untitled poem from Caprichos e Relaxos, 1983]

My cut-off head
Thrown in your window
Moon-lit night
Window Open

Hits the wall
Loses some teeth
Falls to the bed
Heavy with thought

Maybe it's scary
Maybe you'll blink
Seeing by moon
The color of my eyes

Maybe you'll think
It's just your alarm clock
On the nightstand

Not to scare you
Only to ask kindlier treatment
For my sudden head
Departed

[including in Bernstein's Recalculating]



Minha cabeça cortada
Joguei na tua janela
Noite de lua
Janela aberta

Bate na parede
Perdendo os dentes
Cai na cama
Pesada de pensamentos

Talves te assustes
Talves a contemples
Contra a lua
Buscando a cor de meus olhos

Talvez a uses
Como despertador
Sobre o criado-mudo

Não quero assutar-te
Peço apenas um tratamento condigno
Para essa cabeça súbita
De minha parte

 

Paulo Leminsky (1944-1989)