tacit sound

By Dora Manuel Culabo

Translated from the Portuguese (Mozambique) by Landa wo

 

it has fire
no one sees it
sensing the wandering
without knowing where it comes from
dark-pink in colour
sound carved in blackwood
and the soul loves sea and love
and the palm of the hand on wandering
it immigrates dizziness
and does not pretend, it strikes
the mouth’s voice sharpens the blade
a short blade
the blade cuts
by fire from the root
eyes sense tenderness to sweating
eyes cry
the hand is swallowed by the entire pod
body cries out soul cries out
flesh cries out voice cries out
pod cries out- dark pink
in me another life is licked

 

 

 

 

som do tácito

Dora Manuel Culabo

 

fogo tem
ninguém vê
sentir a vagem
sem saber de onde vem
cor, rosa-escuro
som em pau-preto talhado
e alma ama mar e amor
e palma da mão sobre a vagem
imigra vertigem
e não finge, atinge
voz foz afia lâmina
lâmina corta
a fogo pela raiz
olhos sentem doçuras a suor
olhos choram
mão engolida pela vagem inteira
corpo grita alma grita
carne grita voz grita
vagem grita- rosa-escuro
dentro de mim outra vida é lambida

 

 

Translator’s note: © mallarmargens – revista de poesia e arte contemporânea ISSN 2316 – 3887

 

Translator

Landa wo award-winning work appears in venues such as Bellingham Review, Spillway, Michigan Quarterly Review, Raleigh Review, Tule Review, The Common and The Cape Rock, among others. With roots in Angola and Cabinda Landa wo is an Afro French poet and a member of Société des Poètes Français.

 

Author

Dora Manuel Culabo is a poet from Mozambique with recent publications in The Blue Nib and Mallarmargens – revista de poesia e arte contemporânea. Dora is an English teacher originally from Niassa in the city of Lichinga. She currently lives in Nampula.