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A mother’s love, a hernia love
that even when distant, even when dead
is an inheritance that crosses the gap
with the tentacles and gambits
of a spider, tantalizing, and that clings, grasps
on the inside: it will die with me, furious.
Loyal tattoo, immune to the time of origin.
From the collection Lar. Published 2009 by Editora Companhia das Letras, São Paulo. © Armando Freitas Filho. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2013 by Stefan Tobler. All rights reserved.
A mother’s love, a hernia love
that even when distant, even when dead
is an inheritance that crosses the gap
with the tentacles and gambits
of a spider, tantalizing, and that clings, grasps
on the inside: it will die with me, furious.
Loyal tattoo, immune to the time of origin.
From the collection Lar. Published 2009 by Editora Companhia das Letras, São Paulo. © Armando Freitas Filho. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2013 by Stefan Tobler. All rights reserved.
Amor de mãe, amor de hérnia
que mesmo distante, mesmo morto
é herança que atravessa o intervalo
com seus tentáculos e tentativas
de aranha, tantalizante, e agarra, prende
por dentro: morrerá comigo, furioso.
Fiel tatuagem imune ao tempo de origem.
