Translated by Kathleen Mccaul Moura. Read her contextualizing piece, ‘We Are Favela!’, in the London Review of Books.
We got off the bus
campaign cars blaring political campaigns
tried to win over the engines
of the planes about our heads;
white taxis that flock like pigeons in the
airport,
in a chess game of black knights;
slim flight attendants
and Andrea telling me of the banshees
familiar spirits in Ireland
that scream until the windows are open
so that those slender souls of the dead can fly.
Descemos do ônibus
carros de som das campanhas políticas
tentavam vencer a reversão dos motores
dos aviões sobre as nossas cabeças;
táxis brancos se apinham como pombas no aeroporto,
num xadrez com malas negras;
esguias aeromoças
e Andrea me falava dos banshees,
espíritos familiares na Irlanda,
que gritam até que se abram as janelas
para que voem as almas esguias dos mortos.