Cristóvão de Aguiar was born in Pico da Pedra, S. Miguel, Açores.  He studied in Coimbra, where he has taught English.  Besides poetry, he has also published various works of fiction and memoirs.  He is also represented in various literary anthologies.  He still resides in the university city of Coimbra.

            Missing the Sea

Ships leave the island,

Ships arrive at the island…

—The island is a ship

that ran ashore

in the middle of the ocean

and covered itself with sea mist

and penetrated it self with ocean smell

and became accustomed to being

the ridge of a wave…

I left on a ship…

now I feel the emptiness

of missing the sea…

without the sea, all is borders

and the borders choke me… 

translated from the Portuguese by Diniz Borges

in On a Leaf of Blue—published by University of California, Berkeley