Weather Forecast
translated by Ellen Doré Watson
The spirit of rebellion
also called hopelessness
has begun another sinister round.
His dark and cold come straight from hell.
I was expecting happy days from May,
but so far the only sunny thing was Albertina’s news
that she was chosen to sing “Jesus is the bread of heaven.”
That’s bread without butter, Albertina,
just so you know.
We eat it with bitter herbs.
Previsão do Tempo
O espírito de rebelião
também chamado de tristeza e desânimo
começou de novo sua ronda sinistra.
Sua treva e seu frio são de inferno.
Por causa de maio, esperava dias felizes;
e ensolarado até agora só o recado de Albertina,
escolhida pra cantar Jesus é o pão do céu.
Pão sem manteiga, Albertina,
é bom que o saiba.
É com ervas amargas que o come.
Copyright © 2021 by Adélia Prado and Ellen Doré Watson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 28, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
“It’s a poem about a certain kind of sadness on a sunny day, a day in May that promises joy, but, even so, people feel cold, forlorn, wrapped in darkness. The only good thing that happened that day was the girl who said ‘Today I get to sing “‘Jesus is the bread of heaven.”’ And then I remembered—right, bread without butter, because it’s with bitter herbs that we eat the bread of heaven. So, it’s an allusion to a downheartedness containing that sliver of joy.”
—Adélia Prado, translated by Ellen Doré Watson
Adélia Prado
Adélia Prado is a Brazilian poet and the author of O Homem da Mão Seca (Editora Record, 2007); Oráculos de Maio (Editora Record, 2007); and O Pelicano (Editora Guanabara, 1987). The recipient of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry’s Lifetime Recognition Award and the 2020 Prêmio Jabuti, she lives in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil.