Intimate Verses

You see? No one came to witness
the dreadful burial of your last illusion.
Only Ingratitude — that panther —
was your inseparable companion.

Get used to the mud that waits for you!
Man, here on this miserable earth,
living among beasts, inevitably feels
the need to become a beast as well.

Take a match. Light your cigarette.
A kiss, my friend, is just the eve of spit;
the hand that strokes you is the same one that stones you.

If anyone still feels pity for your wound,
stone that vile hand that caresses you;
spit into the mouth that kisses you!

Augusto dos Anjos