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by Maria Teresa Horta translated by Edite Cunhā and M.B. McLatchey
São os versos os crepúsculos são os dias
são os mares a saliva a mão aberta
na luz de bruços ao meio-dia são os gestos abissais, a dor incerta
São os verbos os segredos a alquimia
são os doces lábios e o seu excesso
os impulsos do gesto onde se erguia o contorno do corpo mais perverso
São as vozes singulares as melodias
são os rigores das formas mais diversas
a inventarem-se só porque impediam uma ansiosa posse tão incerta
São as sílabas intactas as utopias
o torpe o passado o pesadelo
sonhado durante a alvorada o suor alagando o meu cabelo
São as dúvidas, possivelmente a noite no labor da escrita desatada tudo aquilo que é táctil e por dentro se enovela no fio da madrugada
Por vezes surge ainda um gesto mais sedento e em seguida o voo, o golpe de uma faca no lado voraz do pensamento quando o amor não quer dizer mais nada
They’re the verses the twilight they’re the days
they’re the seas the saliva the open hand
in the back-light at noon they’re the abyssal gestures, the uncertain pain
They’re the verbs the secrets the alchemy
they’re the sweet lips and their excess
the impulses of the gesture where rose up the contour of the body most perverse
They’re the voices singular the melodies
they’re the rigors of the forms most diverse
inventing themselves simply because they prevented an anxious possession so uncertain
They’re the syllables intact the utopias
the clumsy the past the nightmare
dreamt during the dawn the sweat drenching my hair
They’re the doubts, possibly the night in the labor of unfettered writing everything that is tactile and internal entwines itself in the thread of dawn
Sometimes an even more thirsty gesture surges and then the flight, the stroke of a knife to the voracious side of reflection when love has nothing more to say
Maria Teresa Horta was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1937. At 82 years old, Horta continues to be recognized for her association with two fellow poets, Maria Isabel Barreno and Maria Velho da Costa. In 1971, during the fascist Estado Novo regime, the three women (known thereafter as “The Three Marias”) wrote a collaborative work entitled NovasCartasPortuguese (New Portuguese Letters). The book was banned, resulting in a trial that attracted worldwide attention and identified the three writers as feminist icons. In 1974 the regime fell, and the charges were dropped. Nevertheless, the imprint of an oppressive regime endured for Horta—both in her consciousness and in her poetry.
Horta has always considered herself, first and foremost, a poet. She has published 21 collections of poetry. She has also worked as a journalist for several Lisbon publications during the 1960s (one of the few women to do so) and interviewed such renowned literary figures as Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras, and Christa Wolf. She edited the magazine, Mulheres (Women), and wrote plays and fiction pieces. She is most renowned as a poet and political activist. She lives in Portugal.
Edite Cunhā is a writer, artist, and activist who believes that creativity can transform the individual as well as society. She leads multi-media art and writing workshops for people of all ages. Cunhā has a BA from Smith College and an MFA from Warren Wilson College. She lives in Massachusetts.
M.B. McLatchey earned her graduate degree in Comparative Literature at Harvard University, her Master of Art in Teaching at Brown University, and her B.A. from Williams College. She was awarded the American Poet Prize from the American Poetry Journal; she won the 2013 May Swenson Award for her debut poetry collection, The Lame God (Utah State Univ. Press), and Finalist Place in the New Women’s Voices Competition for her book Advantages of Believing (Finishing Line Press).Her most recent book, Beginner’s Mind, will be published with Regal House Publishing in 2021 and explores the question, “How should we educate our children?” Currently serving as Florida’s Poet Laureate for Volusia County, she is an Associate Professor of Classics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.Visit her at www.mbmclatchey.com.
