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Promises (a Fado poem)
‘Não quero que me prometas a lua e o firmamento,
quero apenas que me digas que me tens no pensamento’,
The moon is too far away
and, as the birds will testify,
the sky is freedom and yours to live.
I do not promise you the moon or the sky,
Love is much more than such unearthly things
And you are already in my thoughts
day and night, and sometimes afternoons.
Love can live with that other four-letter word
– fear, the fear of losing time.
Love lives in the yeast of optimism,
burning within a sea of passion,
compassion and beautiful imaginings
and there is no confusion over that,
it means much more than simply
thoughts or wishes and desires…
so, I cannot promise you the moon or the sky
when only a rose, or a sunflower, will do.