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.

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

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

Every night, seat and man, wood and flesh, cuddle up together

She reclined on her bed cylindrically, unable to move, filling the feathery fabric with fluff.