Civil Registration 
(poema traduzido)



She was reaping daisys 
when I passed. The daisys were 
the hearts of her lovers, 
which later turned into oysters 
and she'd swallow in groups of ten.

The phones were yelling Dulce, 
Rosa, Leonora, Carmen, Beatriz, 
but Dulce had died 
and the others were swimming in Ostend 
under a neutral sun.

Cities were losing their names 
which the clerk with a bird on his shoulder 
went on saving in the book of verses. 
In the last of them, Sodoma, 
a light was left on

which the angel blew out. 
And on earth 
I could only hear the gentle 
Rumble, of the oysters sliding 
down the merciless throat.


- Carlos Drummond de Andrade