letter from a contract worker - Antonio Jacinto

Few poems have been written as raw and truthfully as this,well according to me,but this here is an African masterpiece..

I wanted to write you a letter
my love,
a letter that would tell
of this desire
to see you
of this fear
of losing you
of this more than benevolence that i feel
of this indefiable ill that pursues me
of this yearning to which i live in total surrender

I wanted to write you a letter
my love,
a letter of intimate secrets
a letter of memories of you
of you
of your lips as red as henna
of your hair as black as mud
of your eyes as sweet as honey
of your breasts as hard as wild orange
of your lynx* gait
and of your caresses
such that i can find no better here
I wanted to write you a letter
my love,
that would recall the days in our haunts
our nights lost in the long grass
that would recall the shade falling on us from the plum
trees
the moon filtering the endless palm trees
that would recall the madness
of our passion
and the bitterness
of our separation...

I wanted to write you a letter
my love,
that you would read without sighing
that you would hide from papa Bombo
that you would withhold from mama Kieza
that you would reread without the coldness
of forgetting
a letter which in all Kilombo
no other would stand comparison...

I wanted to write you a letter
my love,
a letter that would be brought to you by the passing wind
a letter that the cashews and coffee trees
the hyenas and buffaloes
the alligators and grayling*
could understand
so that if the wind should lose it on the way
the beasts and plants
with pity of our sharp suffering
from song to song
lament to lament
gabble to gabble
would bring you pure and hot
the burning words
the sorrowful words of the letter i wanted to write you my love...

I wanted to write you a letter...

but oh my love, I cannot understand
why it is, why it is, why it is, my dear
that you cannot read
and I - oh the hopeleness! -cannot write!


MISS CAFFEINE ADDICT-ASANTE SANA!

Comments

katiechi said…
this piece of writing is heartbreakingly brilliant, he wrote another one 'monangambo'thats also quite deep,........on that big estate there is no rain,its the sweat of my brow that waters the crop.... let me drink wine,palm wine and fuddled by my drunkness forget....
Ken Gitau. said…
I more than totally agree..
bazuka said…
this guy iz a genious
tinah said…
am in love with this poem
mwanja said…
the poem is very gooooooooooooood Ilike it very much because it shows deep feelings and eemotions to the one who is reading
Ken Gitau. said…
lovely poem..
One of the finest I ever heard and read, true Mozambiqan love.
radicallyworng said…
Jacinto is one of most powerful writer I have come to read...... Can you blog his 1. Bailarina negra (Black dancer) and Ah! Se pudésseis aqui ver poesia que não há! (Ah! If you could see that there is no poetry here!) too.
Unknown said…
Very amazing poem I ever seen
Unknown said…
This dude is a poem freak, well articulated, charming and charismatic

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