THE IMPRECISE MELANCHOLY

Nothing would distract him
from that search, he said.
This is the message
of contingency:

it was summer and it was
too hot.
He left early, cutting
at a slow pace
the 9:30 shadow.
Walk to the dazzling
fall of sunsets.
To point out an ash,

the imprecise melancholy.

///

A IMPRECISA MELANCOLIA

Nada o distrairia
nessa procura, disse.
Este o recado
da contingência:

era verão e fazia
muito calor.
Saía cedo, cortando
a passos lentos
a sombra das 9:30.
Caminhar até à vertiginosa
queda dos poentes.
Assinalar uma cinza,

a imprecisa melancolia.

by Luís QUINTAIS (b.1968), in "A IMPRECISA MELANCOLIA", Editorial Teorema, 2005

(English translated by Armando TABORDA, 2019)

(photograph taken from Internet; edited by Armando TABORDA)