Esfera de luz
On the back of the moon
I trace the lines
of my being,
sphere of light
being reborn
in the white
pallor of memory
that endures
Esfera de luz
No dorso da lua
traço as linhas
do meu ser,
esfera de luz
a renascer
na brancura
pálida da memória
que perdura.
Dora Nunes Gago is a Professor of Literature at the University of Macau (China), with a Ph.D. in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures. She has been a Lecturer at the Camões Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay; Professor of Secondary Education and post-doctoral researcher from the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [Foundation for Science and Technology]) at the University of Aveiro. She has published Planície de Memória (poetry, 1997); Sete Histórias de Gatos [Seven Cat Stories] (co-authored with Arlinda Mártires), 1st ed. 2004, 2nd ed. 2005; A Sul da escrita (Prémio Nacional de Conto Manuel da Fonseca [Manuel da Fonseca National Short Story Prize], 2007); Imagens do estrangeiro no Diário de Miguel Torga [Images of the Foreigner in Miguel Torga’s Diary], Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation/FCT, 2008. Additionally, she has published poems, short stories, articles and essays in various newspapers, magazines and anthologies.
Translator Katharine F. Baker is of Azorean descent on her father’s side. She is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley, earned a Master’s degree at the University of Maryland-College Park, and studied Portuguese at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. She translates Portuguese books, essays and poetry into English.
