The End

In the end, tree, a cloudy shelter will come
to cover your dry, aged branches.

It will lend you, short on green,
the white glow of its weightlessness

As a drop undoes the cloud into tears
I’ll tell my children:
no, the tree didn’t die,
your childhood sun has set.

Credit

Originally published in the April 2019 issue of Words Without Borders. "No Fim" © Helder Faife. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2019 by Sandra Tamele and Eric M. B. Becker. All rights reserved.

Author

Hélder Faife

Hélder Faife was born in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1974. He is the author of several poetry collections, incuding Desdenhos (Cavalo do Mar, 2017), Contos de fuga (A2 Design, 2010), and Poemas em sacos vazios que ficam de pé (A2 Design, 2010)—both winners of the Concurso Literário da empresa Telecominicações de Moçambique. A member of the Mozambique Writers Association, he lives in Maputo.

Date Published

06/24/2019