I saw Rome burning

I saw Rome burning, and several neros
tanned by the californian light
timidly stashing away in closets
mothballs and babylonian lyres;
the world’s capitals, one by one,
darkened into froth and cloud,
crushed in their core at night;
but i never saw paris with you inside.
And this is the missing image
in my fate-allotted photo album
like a cinema showing certain ‘death’;
solemn emperor, opening the shroud
in which I hid my anger and my plight,
I’ve yet to see paris with you inside.

© Translated by Ana Hudson, 2013

Vi Roma a arder

Vi Roma a arder, e neros vários
bronzeados à luz da califórnia
guardar em naftalina nos armários
timidamente, a lira babilónia;
as capitais da terra, uma a uma,
desfeitas em nuvem e negra espuma,
atingidas de noite no seu centro;
mas nunca vi paris contigo dentro.
E falta-me esta imagem para ter
inteiro o álbum que me coube em sorte
como um cinema onde passava «a morte»;
solene imperador, abrindo o manto
onde ocultei a cólera e o pranto,
falta-me ver paris contigo dentro.

Written By António Franco Alexandre

António Franco Alexandre is one of the greatest voices of contemporary Portuguese poetry in the last thirty years. Books such as ‘Duende’, ‘Uma Fábula’ and the most recent ‘Aracne’ bring together an artisan’s perfection with such an original vision of the world (simultaneously erudite, ancestral, contemporary) that they would suffice to keep an entire literature alive.

Bernardo Pinto de Almeida

António Franco Alexandre was born in Viseu, Portugal. From 1962 until 1969, Alexandre lived in Toulouse, France, studying mathematics. From there, he moved to the United States for a time to continue his studies. He received a BSc in Mathematics from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Lisbon. In 1971, he moved to Paris. Following the 1974 Revolution, he returned to Portugal. Since 1975, he has taught philosophy at the University of Lisbon.

Poetry books since 2000: Uma Fábula (2001), Duende (2002), Aracne (2004), Poemas (2022).

From: https://poemsfromtheportuguese.org/category/antonio-franco-alexandre/