February

Photo by Sven Fennema

.

FEBRUARY


you will often return to yourself
as one enters places where hearths once burned
and where the smell of smoke lingers
melancholic
and invisible

an autumnal or wintry mustiness
grips your startled hands
and wants to sink them into the earth

so take the necessary precautions

when the tangle of days on your shoulder blade
feels like cement or hatred in its pure state,
leave the house, breathe the grasses, bite their stems
hard

don’t ask why, bite them,
and that’s that

.

João Ricardo Lopes is a contemporary Portuguese poet and writer.

More about:
https://joaoricardolopes.com/about/