Black Eye

^{Translated from Portuguese by John Keene}

I am a black renegade
I refuse the mirror daily
Which tries to massacre me inside
Which tries to deceive me with white lies
Which tries to discolor me with its rays of light

I am a black renegade
Determined to face the system
I drum up the black without a hitch
I bum-rush the stage

I am a black renegade
I advocate a necessary darkening
I unmask any racists in the closet
I shove my foot in the door and walk in

I Won’t Wash the Dishes Anymore

Translated from Portuguese by John Keene

I won’t wash the dishes anymore
Or dust the furniture
I’m sorry
I’ve begun to read
The other day I opened a book and a week later I decided
I won’t carry the trash out to the trash bin
Or clean up the mess of leaves falling in the yard
I’m sorry
After reading I noticed each dish has its own aesthetic,
an aesthetic of traces, of ethics, of static
I look at my hands as they flip the books’ pages
Hands much softer than they were before
I feel that I can start to be all the time
I

Cristiane Sobral

2018

False Advertising

Translated from Portuguese by John Keene

The first time I kissed
It was my girlfriends who kissed
They invented a flavor, a style, a smell
My lips weren't there.

The first time I kissed
The prince was chosen by these dreaming girls
He was a jerk to me
A toad, a dragon that spat its fire on me

I don't know what it was like
They didn't see my closed eyes
I wasn't there.

Cristiane Sobral

2018

Time

Translated from Portuguese by John Keene

Time
is an essence
I carry within me
Time and its strands
They've been coiled inside me since my navel was knotted
It has as its complementary counterpart
The space between time and its options
Time, lord of the hours
reigns sovereign
Subtly, on a silver cord
People don't kill time
He is the killer.

Cristiane Sobral

2018

Poems

Black Eye

More by this poet

I Won’t Wash the Dishes Anymore

False Advertising

Time

Poems

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Black Eye

More by this poet

I Won’t Wash the Dishes Anymore

False Advertising

Time

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