BAPTISMO
Versão original por Alfred Lewis
O padre estava lá perante a pia
calvo, de branco, para baptizar
a criancinha que dormia agora
nos braços ternos e quentes da mãe.
Pais e padrinhos esperavam sisudos
perante a pia pintada de rosa
aquele momento em que o padre ia
deitar a água baptismal na testa
da criancinha que dormia agora,
fazer dele um cristão como nós todos.
E ao sair da igreja, um melro negro,
a chilrear contente, parecia
saudar o cristãozinho que dormia
como nada tivesse acontecido
nos braços ternos e quentes da mãe.
BAPTISM
Translated by RoseAngelina Baptista
The priest stands before the font,
bald and robed in white, ready to baptize
the little child who now sleeps
in the warm, tender arms of his mother.
Parents and godparents wait solemnly
before the font, painted rose,
for the moment when the priest will
pour baptismal water on the child’s brow—
the sleeping child—
to make him a Christian, like all of us.
As they leave the church, a blackbird,
chirping with delight, seems to greet
the little Christian who still sleeps,
as if nothing at all has happened,
in the warm, tender arms of his mother.
Vision
To illuminate the poetic threads that bind Portugal, Africa, Brazil, and their diasporas into a shared fabric of memory, resilience, and creation. Through Filamentos, poetry becomes a vessel that carries ancestral voices across oceans, sustaining cultural identities while opening new horizons of belonging.
Mission
- To gather and celebrate poets of the Luso-Afro-Brazilian worlds, including their diasporas, offering a space where their voices can echo freely and be heard across borders.
- To translate and amplify this poetry so that the saudade of one shore becomes the recognition of another, fostering cultural exchange and solidarity.
- To affirm poetry as both archive and prophecy: a record of displacement, memory, and survival, and a vision of futures rooted in justice, freedom, and imagination.
- To connect readers and listeners across continents, ensuring that the literature of the Portuguese-speaking worlds continues to inspire, heal, and transform.
We thank the Luso-American Education Foundation for its support.
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Filamentos (artes e letras) 