I’m a keeper of sheep

I’m a keeper of sheep,

The sheep are my thoughts

And my thoughts are all sensations.

I think with my eyes and ears

And with my hands and feet

An with my nose and mouth.

To think a flower is to see it and smell it

And to eat the fruit is to taste its meaning.

That’s why on a hot day

When I ache from enjoying so much,

And stretch out on the grass

Closing my warm eyes,

I feel my whole body lying full length in reality

I know in truth that I am happy.

By Alberto Caeiro*

heteronym of Fernando Pessoa 

Translated from Portuguese by Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown