today i attended this great event from the portuguese studies folks. it was a pleasure to meet Astrid. i love the experience of listening to the author reading her poems and telling us about them, why she wrote them that way. she read the original protuguese and jaine beswick read the translation to english. great reading by jaine. loved it, too. astrid has a beautiful voice and seasoned the words with the forest accent as she comes from the amazon region. this accent is different from mine. when i listen to somebody reading poetry i feel like closing my eyes and just feeling it. also, listening to the author's reading give a particular interpretation, one that is different from mine. poetry should always be read out loud. here is my favorite, original followed by translation:
cave canem
dentro de mim ha cachorros
que uivam em horas de raiva
contra as jaulas da cortesia
e as coleiras do bom senso.
solto-os em nome da justica
tomada de coragem homicida.
mas sabendo que raiva mata
aa mingua de domar meus caes
vacinei-os. ladrem mas nao mordam
e caso mordam, nao matem.
