ABOUT
ABOUT
Chancellor Florida State Poets Association
Florida Poet Laureate Volusia County
Winner of 2011 American Poet Prize
Selected Poems of
Maria Teresa Horta
Translated by:
M.B. McLatchey and Edite Cunhã
Forthcoming in Inventory, 2020
14
MY SUSTENANCE
The more I write
poetry
the more I surrender
to the loss
the more I lose myself
the more
I find myself
I catch a glimpse
and despise and discount myself
The more I write
poetry
the more I become
enlightened
to turn it into my
body
to summon it in time
making it my sustenance
MEU ALIMENTO
Quanto mais escrevo
poesia
mais me entrego
ao perdimento
mais me perco
e mais me encontro
me desencontro
e vislumbro
me desacato e desvendo
Quanto mais escrevo
poesia
mais me torno
alumbramento
a transformá-la em meu
corpo
a convocá-la no tempo
tornando-a meu alimento
Copyright © 2019 M. B. McLatchey &
Edite Cunha, with permission. All rights reserved.
Forthcoming in Inventory, Princeton University, 2020.
Copyright © 2017 Maria Teresa Horta,
from her collection Poesis.
Dom Quixote Publisher, Lisbon.