Bante!
Assim te chamei.
Entretanto, duvidei
que pudesses me ensinar
a arte de abraçar as coisas
como elas vêm para nós.
Como o inverno
desiste de si
na estação das flores,
eu desisti de ti
naquele dia
de Martin Luther King.
Para vir a entender
nessa primavera,
que faltei
em não ter mais
fé na benevolência.
Tua, a habilidade
De confiar além do medo.
Calma e desafetada,
capaz de aceitares
o curso natural
das nossas atitudes.
Tu,
que tinhas razões
Para desgostar, maldizer.
Mas, fostes maior que
teus obstáculos de gata.
Plena e descomplicada.
Te perdendo,
ganhei a medida
de meu próprio
desafeto.
Miss Bante
At first, I called you
Bante! Though how
could you teach me
about letting go?
As winter gives way
to spring, I gave
you up that Martin
Luther King Day.
That spring, when I failed
to believe in goodness,
you had the capacity
to trust beyond fear.
With the right to serenity,
the privilege to suffer,
you leapt all hurdles
cool cat that pounced
your way to wholeness,
unshackled.
Losing you gained me
my own measure
of distance.
Roseangelina Baptista is an American-Brazilian based in Central Florida. She is a bilingual freelance writer with interests in promoting poetry, mindfulness and in reviving Indo-Portuguese literature. Her poetry first appeared in the Joao Roque Literary Journal (June 2019) and Adelaide Literary Magazine (November 2019 and February 2020), other works were contributions to local anthologies (2019/2020.)