A SINGLE NAME

there is no sacerdotal dimension
of love. its robes are the same
which adorn the boughs of
an ancient oak, with the weight
of centuries agglutinated by the sky
before the eyes.

there is not and there cannot be
a stone which determines the course
of the seasons. the ancient oak
is the seed and the prophet
the poetic dimension of the word lived.

© 2006 Jorge Vicente – All rights reserved

(translation from the original in Portuguese by Alexandra* ~ OneLight*®)

 

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As pre-announced in my latest blog, I'm honoured to introduce yet one more new poet to you - this time, however, NOT a literary character, like Paula Paixão, but a real person, and an amazing poet in his own right.
His name is Jorge Vicente, and he lives in the South of Portugal. His extraordinary poetry has been published in several anthologies and in “A Bic(a)” and www.3poetasemleiria.pt both books co-authored by Jorge and two other Portuguese fellow poets, Constantino Alves and José Gil.
Jorge was responsible for the first “sketch” of what would become the “Entrecampos” workshop of collective poetry – a free association of poets, who have been creating extraordinary joint works on previously proposed themes, the two most successful ones so far having been the poems “Gente” (People), in which 21 poets collaborated, and “Leveza” (Lightness), a record, co-authored by 27 poets!
Although he speaks English fluently, Jorge Vicente does not feel comfortable enough to try and write poetry in this language – so different from our native one – so I have recently challenged him to translate some of his poems from their original versions in Portuguese, and, while admitting that he does not feel too comfortable with translations, either, he challenged me, in turn, to do that for him! LOL! I have gladly accepted, grateful for such honour, and only hope I’ll be able to convey, in the translated versions, all the musicality and unique imagery present in Jorge’s amazing original poems, which are – in my humble opinion – well deserving of a much wider diffusion than they have had so far, as well as of international recognition.
I’ll be very much looking forward to hearing about your own impressions – so, in advance, thank you for welcoming Jorge Vicente, and for your feedback!
Love,
Alexandra*