Sara F. Costa

• Poem 1: ​on the road 
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• Poem 2: need seven nights
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on the road
 
if trees melt into the tarmac
and the fields fear the cars that never touch them
it’s because the sky is a liquid mirage
forgotten over the lives of other people
that are piercing my voice.
it’s when i let my gaze go violently off the road
against my thoughts
that i long for the life of electricity pylons.
give me the shadow of movement
and the nomadic yearning,
the peace of knowing that all conflict is permanent.
give me all the portuguese landscapes you’ve got
i’m in need of a self portrait of sea and mountains.
i’m in need of the sun to light up my dizziness
like an unashamed cloud
growing over the reflection of my fingers.
let the bus be driven deep into the atlantic winter
we call home.

need seven nights
 
i need seven nights, eight days to find me,
write several outputs,
shred time
admire the open music of the trees,
the mythological work of the poem.
awaken the inner violins that take care of the streets
i bring your name burned in my arms,
a poisoned mirror in my throat.
deviating snakes from borders
that separate us
i retreat like a convalescent animal
the cliffs you bring to your shoulders,
oh, the precipices that bend over your name.
a lightning factory explodes
at sea speed
nobody knows anything
about the moon that lives on your nerves.
every night, every day that I find
your body will be the space itself
in the sleeping body near the neck
the primitive mornings
where everything disappears without a trace.

Sara F. Costa was born in 1987 in Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal.
She has a degree in Oriental Studies (Chinese and Japanese) and a Major in Intercultural Studies: Portuguese/Chinese by the University of Minho, in partnership with Tianjin University of Foreign Languages, in China. She is a PhD candidate in International Relations at New University of Lisbon, with a thesis about China-EU relations.
She was a Professor at the Tianjin University of Foreign Languages, University of Minho, Leiria Polytechnic Institute and at the University of Coimbra Faculty of Economics. She translates Chinese poetry into Portuguese.
As a poet, she has published a number of books and received a series of awards. Her works have been featured in Literary Journals and Magazines all across the world. Her poetry has been translated into Spanish, English, Turkish, Hungarian and Chinese.
She was an inviting judge of the Portuguese National Literary Contest “Arte Crescendo” in 2018.
She’s currently living in Beijing, China and is working with Spittoon - a Beijing-based international arts collective (http://spittooncollective.com/)  that does events and programming throughout China and publishes a literary magazine all with the goal of bringing together Chinese and foreign writers, artists, and literary enthusiasts.

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