The selection here is proposed not as a definitive list of the major Mozambican poets working today but rather a jumping-off point, a gesture toward the diversity of themes and styles to be found in the contemporary literature of Mozambique.

my pact with hope is evergreen: / immense this green that makes a heart.

She tattoos the wavering future / on the bare skinned wall.

and now my eyes are knives slicing the night to / split the mist