© 2009, Text by Rosa Alice Branco
© 2016, English translation by Alexis Levitin
This book won the Premio de Poesía Espiral Maior and was first published in Portuguese as O Gado do Senhor by Edicións Espiral Maior, Galicia, Spain, 2009.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
(800) 520-6455
Published 2016 by Milkweed Editions
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker
Cover illustration by Karl Bodmer / Wellcome Library, London
Author photo by Amadeu Baptista
Translator photo by Nick Levitin
16 17 18 19 20 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
This book is supported within the scope of the Luso-American Foundation’s 2013 Gregory Rabassa Translation Program.
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Branco, Rosa Alice, author. | Levitin, Alexis, translator.
Title: Cattle of the lord : poems / Rosa Alice Branco ; translated from the Portuguese by Alexis Levitin.
Description: Minneapolis : Milkweed Editions, 2016. | “First published in Portuguese as Gado do Senhor” | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016021359 (print) | LCCN 2016009681 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571319456 (e-book) | ISBN 9781571314826 (paperback)
Classification: LCC PQ9264.R285 (print) | LCC PQ9264.R285 A2 2016 (ebook) | DDC 869.3/42--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016021359
Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the world’s endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Cattle of the Lord was printed on acid-free 30% postconsumer-waste paper by Versa Press.
to my son Hugo
who also
Translation dedicated
to Egito Gonçalves
CONTENTS
15 Savings Bank
18 One Less
20 More Is Less
25
Striptease