Under my skin, my father
invades me. Quietly, slowly:
in my striated nails, along the fat
visible vein, in my stomach
that has succumbed, in my scrotum
that has loosened, he flakes off
my skin that dries out
and wrinkles under my armpits.
In my face, my eyes face
the invader’s transfusion
and it’s still to be confirmed whether
in the last days’ light
he will stay or shoot off
before I resign myself to him.

From the collection Lar. © Armando Freitas Filho. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2013 by Stefan Tobler. All rights reserved.