My mother worries about me, as one tends to. I can’t really write much to soothe her (and I have tried), so I wrote this one, quite a while ago, to soothe myself. It was translated from Portuguese, and it is quite old, but I have some strange affection for it. It truly does soothe me.
(I shall craft some more compositions soon, but I’m having some trouble writing in English; something about it always feels artificial to me. Perhaps it is the artifice of translating emotions.)
Endless gratitude to anyone that still manages to find energy to read me!
(CALIATH) 
I believe it is the writing in English gives extra magic, the use of words pop out like no other. 💚
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Perhaps! My English vocabulary is a bit more limited, so I make-do with what I know. Thank you Cassa!
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It’s nice to see you sharing your work again, my friend.
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Thank you River, you are an indelible part of this experience. It is just as nice to see you still around!
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You’re welcome and thank you.
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Mere translation or not, this is fabulous – thank you for posting!
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Thank you so much, Bruce! I believe translations suffer because they lose a bit of their stylistic draws, but the pith remains. I’m very glad you liked it.
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To be sure it must be true but here it remains unsullied by the distance travelled. You are welcome Johnny.
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You have rhythm, like breathing, like suspiration. Was T.S. Elliott an inspiration? Was reminiscent of Four Quarters. Keep writing Johnny. I always look forward to reading your posts, regardless of the language in which they are written.
“The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre-
To be redeemed from fire by fire.
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.”
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
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Keegan, what a wonderful comment. I’m familiar with Eliot’s entire oeuvre, I own all of his published works, and The Four Quartets are by long stretches of sight my most dear compositions of his. That section of Little Gidding contains a special magnitude, as I was always deeply enamoured with the oneiric, almost sheer aspect of emotional sincerity in Sophocles’ Women of Trachis, to which Eliot nods with his “shirt of flame”.
Eliot is a decisive influence in my poetry — as are many others — yet this particular one was mostly inspired by Portuguese poets, most specifically, Hatherly and Quintais.
It still fills my heart that you found some Eliot in it, it is a truly humbling experience.
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Johnny, I love this poem with mother and child for its beauty and truth. I am glad it soothes you. So relatable to my personal situation and, I think, to many other people’s. Your command of the English language is amazing, so do not worry the least about it. English is my third language after Catalan and Spanish. How I wish I had your rich vocabulary! And I also love T.S.Eliot’s poems! Muito obrigada pra você. O meu português é basico.
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Marta, my Catalan of choice… I couldn’t begin a speech worthy of the beautiful magnitude of your Catalunya, or the richness of Art found therein.
I, sadly, cannot speak in Catalan (for now). It is a language of sea and tumbling hills, whose sound over-crosses the vast scope of your lands.
Thank you so much, I’m overjoyed to have you near, and I’m glad you love Eliot, although I’m uncertain of how anyone could not love him. He was… a collection of every lightning bolt in the vastest breadth of life.
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I love Portuguese too, so musical in its sounds, and, true. Eliot is one of the best poets ever, at least to me. Love this: “a collection of every lightning bolt in the vastest breadth of life.”
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This is fabulous! There’s nothing wrong with your vocabulary, I wonder how beautiful your original poem would be 💗
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Thank you endlessly!
To me, everything sounds more beautiful in my language, haha. It is my mother-tongue, thus, it is not only my master regarding what emotion is, but my instrument in translating emotion to the external realm of life.
Hopefully, it doesn’t lose much brightness in English.
Again, thank you so much.
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You’re welcome and your work is beautiful 😊
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Your work is captivating and extremely intriguing. Your use of the English language is amazing as is your vocabulary. It is a piece that any mother can most likely relate to in some way. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent. ❤️ love Joni
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It’s beautiful.
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Thank you so much!
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Your words are magic.
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Thank you, most dearly.
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This is very awesome poetry!
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Beautifully exotic and delicate,
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