Monday, July 05, 2010

Rua dos Douradores (With Pessoa)

Night falls on the street of sour oranges.

The street of the soul’s accountant,

The man with so many alter egos

He forgot the name he had been born with.

This simple unremarkable street

Was all he required,

More marvellous than any argosy

Undertaken by Vasco da Gama,

He loathed the very idea of travel,

Scorned the vulgarity of packing a suitcase,

Despised the mindlessness

Of those who must displace themselves

In order to see and feel.


One city, one unicorn forest.

One language, finite yet infinite.

To walk the length of this street

Is to circumambulate the world.

Each step is a poem, a breath.

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