Rubbing shoulders with Amapa

In the early light
you are the young woman
running wild
through the thigh-high, tussocky, savanna grass ;
dark hair caught by the wind ;
Sipaliwini's spindle plain
opening up its zoom lens
to the first shutter
of dawn.

The forest is behind you now.

All you ever want
is to reach the mountains of Mamia.
Your compass
has urged you to go there -
to straddle the land
before the first filter of sunlight
blazes the earth
electric.

You pick up its static,
gooseflesh bristling all over your skin
at this sudden new departure.

Nothing can hold you now.

All your energy is fully charged.
Another hour
and you'll be up on the heights
rubbing shoulders with Amapa -
arms hugging the border -
your first love
revealed.

*Amapa is a state in North Brazil on the border with Surinam.

Traducere de Ioana Vîlcu