Anne Portugal 1949–
angers, france
A
contemporary lyric poet, Portugal currently lives and works in Paris.
Her work is at once feminist, highly experimental, and enormously
influential on other poets. She has contributed to the revivews Po&sie,If, Action poétique, and Banana split, among others. She has also translated the
work of Emily Dickinson and contemporary poets Stacy Doris and Barbara
Guest. Principal works: Les Commodités d’une banquette, 1985; De quoi faire un
mur, 1987; Nude, 1988; Le Plus Simple Appareil, 1992.
Seen from Over Here
from the horizon there
is an unavoidable
acceleration of the
heart toward the night
one does not wish for
other passages
toward other lights
and if we can
you see the trouble believing
you see the words
the movements
as soon as they’re created
by mouth
and on the evening questionnaire
one crosses out
descriptive entries
—norma cole
Seen from Over Here
‘‘seen from over here
there was this man whose profession
is taking the dead from their apartments
he looked at me so civilly
so alert into his gaze intelligence slipped