Garth Dutton » portugal

Baia Dos Tigres, Angola – A Poem

Garth Dutton — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:54:12 +0000

Baia Dos Tigres, Angola

© Garth Dutton 2010

I can envisage a bay

with shifting tides and currents,

and tiger stripes of sandbars.

The name suggests to sailors

that they sail into the bay

as one would walk into a jungle

in which it was known

there were tigers.

The name also shows

that the Portuguese Navigators

knew what tigers were

long before they reached India.

Cape Verde – A Poem

Garth Dutton — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:30:00 +0000

Here is a poem that is part of a series of poems inspired by Portuguese place names on the African coast

Cape Verde

© Garth Dutton 2010

After the long, long sail

down the Sahara Coast,

they came to a Cape that was green.

Not just green,

but verdant green.

So green,

it was like an emerald

at the edge of the sea

Fernando Pessoa – A Poem

Garth Dutton — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:34:00 +0000

This poem is about Portugal’s most popular poet, Fernando Pessoa. He wrote in the early 20th Century. He worked for most of his life as a clerk, and the sheer boredom of the work caused him to escape into a world where he could be 4 different personas as poets.

He actually became each different persona as he wrote in each name. In the English-speaking world, only David Bowie comes close to his achievement.

Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet,
is said to have lived
an uneventful life.
What he lacked in outer action,
he made up in clear poetic images,
and a range of four personalities
who could be so different.
As well as Fernando Pessoa,
he could also be
Alberto Caeiro,
Alvaro de Campos,
Ricardo Reis.

Re-reading “Selected Poems”,
fragments of a jigsaw
fall into place.
The importance of the sea.
The living wind, raging,
or creeping gently over fields.
Feelings of the colours and sounds
of summer daylight.
The silver ghostly world of moonlight.
The same world
seen through
the different eyes
of different moods
and different personalities.
The changing scenarios
reflecting
the changing eyes
of the beholder.

Accompanist – A Song

Garth Dutton — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:10:38 +0000

The song “Accompanist” is about a sexual relationship broken down, but the both of us continued performing as a duo because of ongoing committments at music venues.

Eventually it got too much and I set out to travel to Johannesburg via Portugal. I called it quits at Dover in heavy snow, as I didn’t have adequate winter clothing for such a journey.

Even though I wrote this song a long time ago, I still perform it as this song means a lot to me.

London Town, snowflakes are falling,
and in my heart the highway’s calling,
to Johannesburg, for there’s someone there who’d want me.
from the letters she writes
I know she has a place in her heart for me,

But tonight you’ll sing, I’ll play guitar,
and it’ll still feel good, for still friends we are.
At some pub downtown, friendly atmosphere,
and your lovely voice, soft and sweet and clear.
Everyone just stops and listens.

Then I’ll take you home, but there’ll be no after
beyond the coffee cups and the talk and laughter.
You’re afraid to walk late at night from the station,
and your company is a gift and consolation,
for loneliness is London’s desolation.

But we’ll be alright when we see the morning,
picture postcard white in clear bright dawning.
Cold dark night, clear bright morning.
Cold dark night, clear bright morning.