I met Susana Araújo when we were both working on our PhDs at the University of Sussex. She was working on the short stories of Joyce Carol Oates and I was writing about the films of David Mamet. We shared our joys and frustrations, taught the same courses on film, and noticed how both of our authors were very prolific and it was difficult to keep ahead of them (when you thought you had finished, they published something else and/or made another film!). We also were both legal aliens in the UK, Susana from Portugal and I from Spain and we had lovely conversations about what gets lost in translation, the weather, Brighton…Yes, we liked to chat (we still do).We both used to write too and would talk and comment on our writing.
My friend is back home in Portugal and a lecturer in Lisbon. When we re-established contact again (it’s amazing who quickly time can go!) and I was telling her about my book she send me her collection of poems. Dívida Soberana. The first two parts are exclusively in Portuguese but the third one about ‘Global Warming’ contains poems in both Portuguese and English. I’m including here the first of them, that like all in the series, are not only beautiful but critical and throw a few punches.
I’m very please to host her work in my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and it makes you think, that is what Susana wants.
PROGRAMA DE ESTABILIDADE E CRESCIMENTO
Tu vacilas, não queres ouvir e eu
não vou ter contigo a meio caminho
deposta, abandonada e irrisória
a ponte de ferro quebra-se
assim que o FMI avança
Um casal ainda criança
já refinancia
os seus juros
Não há compensação
para quem sonha severamente
enquanto espera pelo autocarro
durante o horário de Inverno
Vê agora, lá fora: uma
família que forja falsetes
tenta agarrar-se à rede,
frívolos esforços em que
os nossos filhos falham
O estímulo ao investimento
de iniciativa privada promove
a utilização proveitosa dos nossos
recursos: como esta faca de cozinha
que avança para nós com serrilha, sorrindo
combinação certeira entre a ergonomia
o melhor design e a qualidade
Todas as domésticas suturas serão
submetidas a uma rigorosa
análise de sensibilidade
Dorme bem, meu amor e
deixa a manhã reestruturar
a nossa dívida.
PROGRAM FOR STABILITY AND GROWTH
I will not meet you, halfway
teetering, you will not listen
deposed, derelict and derisory
the iron bridge breaks as
the IMF rides in
A couple aghast
refinancing
its bounds
The test was trust it hurt
because I needed you
so
There is no compensation for
dreaming hard as winter hours
See outside: a family of falsettos on tricottine
facetious, our children fail
Official incentive to private investment
promotes the profitable use of resources
like this kitchen knife that moves toward us
with serration which trims down and back, smiling
the right combination between ergonomics
quality and design
Domestic sutures should be submitted
To severe sensitivity analysis
Sleep tight my love and
let the morning restructure
our debt.
Check www.amariposa.net to order some copies.
*********************************************************************
And I know you are expecting ANNOUNCEMENTS. And today there are many…On Friday, the last guest post for the year, wonderful author Barbara Phinney tells her about…well, read it and you’ll see!
During the holidays I intend to create one or two posts a week (my parents are coming for a visit so this might have to be flexible) with the best in the series, both of posts by characters in ‘The Man Who Never Was’ and especially by my wonderful and talented guest authors.
As I’ve been promising, I published my three novellas in the series ‘Escaping Psychiatry’ last weekend. They are all linked through the main character, Mary, who is a psychiatrist/writer who wishes to make a living by writing but keeps getting involved in a number of cases through her expertise in psychiatry.
‘Cannon Fodder’ (Escaping Psychiatry 1) is FREE TO DOWNLOAD THIS WEEKEND (14th to 16th December inclusive).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKWO8Z6
‘Teamwork’ (Escaping Psychiatry 2)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKWSQJA
And ‘Memory’ (Escaping Psychiatry 3)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKWVRCS
And, I couldn’t leave you without reminding that ‘The Man Who Never Was’ is also available here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009TWRT22
AND DON’T FORGET THE FREE GIVEAWAY FOR CANNON FODDER
Thanks for reading and many thanks to Susana for her poetry and sharing it with us.
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