They block the burrow’s passage
sniffing outwards, treading
on some shifty lizard patting
mice bones in the Eden
of another life
while their elf-like tiny ears
prickle and shake off the sun:
two newly born fox pups.
Oblivious to buzzard
or polecat,
happy in any lap
they’d drink of any milk.
But in the village,
on some filthy, worm-eaten
stable door
blood dries on red fur
and gunpowder
stains the maternal head.
© Translated by Ana Hudson, 2011
Caça grossa
Entopem o gargalo da toca
espetando o nariz, calcando
esquivo lagarto pateando
ossinhos de rato no Éden
de outra vida
enquanto das élficas orelhas
sacodem dejectos de sol:
duas raposas recém-nascidas.
Indiferentes ao milhafre
e à doninha,
em qualquer colo felizes
de qualquer leite beberiam.
Mas na aldeia,
numa porta de estábulo
imunda e carunchosa
o sangue secou no ruivo pêlo
e na materna cabeça a pólvora
onde a bala deu entrada.
in Corvo, 2008
