What stays with me here is the poem’s refusal to argue with time.
Pessoa doesn’t search for meaning in struggle or achievement—only in attention, in the quiet act of noticing the light on water or the stillness inside an ordinary hour.
There’s something deeply restorative in that posture, especially now, when so much of life insists on urgency.
This poem reminds us that calm is not escape; it’s a different kind of wisdom—one that asks us not to conquer existence, but simply to move through it gently and awake.
This poem is from one of Fernando Pessoa heteronyms: Ricardo Reis, which you can find his complete book Poems from Ricardo Reis. He had two more: Alberto Caeiro and Alvaro de Campos. Fernando Pessoa is still to be discovered and appreciated as ine of the greatest. I absolutely love him.
I had not read this beautiful poem before, it quietly resonated with a piece i read earlier about the artist Andy Goldsworthy which speaks to our eternal connection with nature, changes in our perception and the passing of time.
Loved the whittling painting. And the poem! Such an important reminder right now when I am feeling powerless in the world at large. Insignificance is ok. Breathing into the awesome mystery of little things.
Fernando Pessoa , one of the greatest figures of the XX century . An enigmatic persona who wrote poems under different pseudonyms . Here is one in Portuguese
I'm enjoying see my daughter make Mac and cheese and her siblings sit and wait for her to serve it
Thank you very much for this special poem. 🙏
Beauty, truth
What stays with me here is the poem’s refusal to argue with time.
Pessoa doesn’t search for meaning in struggle or achievement—only in attention, in the quiet act of noticing the light on water or the stillness inside an ordinary hour.
There’s something deeply restorative in that posture, especially now, when so much of life insists on urgency.
This poem reminds us that calm is not escape; it’s a different kind of wisdom—one that asks us not to conquer existence, but simply to move through it gently and awake.
A beautiful, weightless stillness.
This poem is from one of Fernando Pessoa heteronyms: Ricardo Reis, which you can find his complete book Poems from Ricardo Reis. He had two more: Alberto Caeiro and Alvaro de Campos. Fernando Pessoa is still to be discovered and appreciated as ine of the greatest. I absolutely love him.
I had not read this beautiful poem before, it quietly resonated with a piece i read earlier about the artist Andy Goldsworthy which speaks to our eternal connection with nature, changes in our perception and the passing of time.
Loved the whittling painting. And the poem! Such an important reminder right now when I am feeling powerless in the world at large. Insignificance is ok. Breathing into the awesome mystery of little things.
“We waste hours like jars of flowers” is a line I want to live inside for a while.
What a balm of a poem! Thank you.
What a beautiful poem, thank you for this reminder
Fernando Pessoa , one of the greatest figures of the XX century . An enigmatic persona who wrote poems under different pseudonyms . Here is one in Portuguese