I just finished an exclusive interview with one of Portugal's most treasured writers! Nuno Júdice at the Portuguese American Journal. His work is breathtaking.
He's written 60 books and yet is virtually unknown in the UK and US. Last year I heard him read in Lisbon and was mesmerized. Nuno deserves more readers. Two of his wonderful poems are included in the article too-- Please share the link if you can.
Millicent
Recipe for Making the Colour Blue”
If you wish to make the colour blue
take a piece of sky and put it in a pot
large enough to place on the flame of the horizon.
Stir into the blue a pinch of early morning red
until it dissolves. Pour everything
into a brass bowl that has been well washed
to eliminate all of the afternoon’s impurities.
Finally, sift in a few smidgens of gold from the sand
of midday until the colour adheres to the bottom of the bowl.
To prevent the colours from separating with time,
drop a charred peach pit into the liquid.
It will disintegrate, leaving no telltale
sign, not even – from the black ash – an ochre trace
on the golden surface. You may then raise the colour
to eye level and compare it with genuine blue.
The two colours will look so alike
that you cannot distinguish one from the other.
This was how I did it – I, Abraham ben Judah Ibn Haim,
illuminator from the town of Loulé. And I left the recipe
for whoever, one day, would imitate the sky.
http://portuguese-american-journal.com/nuno-judice-one-of-portugals-greatest-literary-treasures-interview/
|