The Poet's Autumn

Shadow Light has paired my painting Acadia with a remarkable poem by the Portugese writer José Luís Peixoto. Enjoy:


Acadia by Gregg Chadwick

(Referenced by Missies Blue)

when i got tired of lying to myself
José Luis Peixoto (b. 1974)

when i got tired of lying to myself,
i started writing a book of poetry.

it was two hours ago that i decided, but it was too
long ago that i started growing tired. fatigue
is a gradual skin like autumn. pause.

it rests slowly on the flesh, like leaves
on earth, and it ingrains it to the bone,
like the leaves ingrain the earth and touch
the death and become fertile at their side.

the city continues on the streets, the girls laugh,
but there's a secret that brews in silence.
it's the words, free, the books unwritten,
what will come in future seasons.

there's always hope at the bottom of the avenues.
but there are puddles of waters on the sidewalks. there's cold,
there's fatigue, there are two hours ago that i decided, autumn.

and my body doesn't want to lie, and what is
not my body, the time, knows that
i've many poems to write.

More at:



José Luís Peixoto's Website

José Luís Peixoto