In Time / Em Tempo (tradução)

By Vanessa De Aquino

Where is the past?

Traveling through space

to the eyes of the beholder

Can I bend the space to rescue my past?

Through a wormhole join the observer?

Catch the light that bears my story?

Would I see the big picture? Find the answers?

What good are the answers to what is already dead?

If I bend space, if I beat light

Would I be standing in the future?

Or ignoring my present?

When my earthling eyes in the past

Search for me in the future.

Where is the future?

In calculated predictions and scientific models? 

in vain parents’ plans of tomorrow?

What is this terrifying ghost making us step forward?

This illusion that crumbles into present when touched 

And shatters into the unreachable see-through-glass-chamber of the past.

What is it, the future?

An invention, an illusion 

A mirage, a deduction

A promise, a prediction 

A hope, a calculation

A feeling, a seduction

Distracting us. 

No future can be controlled

But present is the future’s harness

Where is the present?

Like restless waves in an agitated ocean,

It’s passing through without minding us

Flooding our dreams with reality 

Drowning us into history

Now

And now

And now.

Vanessa De Aquino

June 2020

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Segue abaixo uma tentativa de tradução do poema acima. Tal tradução, feita por mim ainda precisaria de extensivas revisões para alcançar a real aura do poema original. Porém, pelo bem da experimentação, acredito que ainda é válido adicioná-la. 

EM TEMPO

Onde está o passado?

Viajando pelo espaço

Rumo aos olhos do observador.

Seria possível dobrar o espaço e resgatar meu passado?

Por um buraco de minhoca me juntar ao observador?

Agarrar a luz que carrega minha estória?

Entenderia eu a situação? Encontraria respostas?

Para que servem as respostas para o que já está morto?

Se eu dobrar o espaço, se eu vencer a luz
Estaria eu de pé sobre o futuro?
Ou ignorando meu presente?
Quando meus olhos terrenos no passado

Procuram por mim no futuro. 

Onde está o futuro?

Em previsões calculadas e modelos científicos?

Em vãos planos maternais sobre o amanhã?
O que é este aterrorizante fantasma nos fazendo andar para frente?
Esta ilusão que se esfarela em presente quando tocada

E se estilhaça na intocável câmara transparente do passado.

O que é isso, o futuro?

Uma invenção, uma ilusão

Uma miragem, uma dedução

Uma promessa, uma predição

Um sentimento, uma sedução 

Distraindo-nos. 

Nenhum futuro pode ser controlado

Mas o presente são as rédeas do futuro

Onde está o presente?

Como incansáveis ondas do agitado mar, 

Está passando entre nós sem se importar

Inundando nossos sonhos com realidade

Afogando-nos em história

Agora, 

E agora,

E agora.

Vanessa De Aquino

Junho 2020 

Ponto de Vista/Point of View

Enquanto os outros têm sua solidão,
Eu tenho a minha liberdade.


While others have their loneliness
I have my freedom.

Emmanuelle de Aquino.

Mission

I'll give you the keys to open the doors,

I'll give you the keys...

I'll tell you the secret to find the doors,

I'll tell you the secret...

I'll show you the path that leads to yourself,

I'll show you the path...

I'll leave.

Vanessa Emmanuelle

Eu te darei as chaves para abrir as portas,

Eu te darei as chaves...

Eu te darei o segredo para encontrar as portas,

Eu te darei o segredo...

Eu te mostrarei a passagem que leva a ti mesmo,

Eu te mostrarei a passagem...

Eu partirei.

Vanessa Emmanuelle.

Jan, 30, 2010

Photography: Allan Nielsen

Boston Sweet Home

While guys go by and girls get along
People ask me why I'm alone...
...Perhaps I left my heart and desires back home.

Vanessa Emmanuelle.

Night Rescuer

Silence, silence...
As I walk over a trail I turn up to the top of a hill 
finding myself face to face with the sun. 
I want to make sure I reached the highest point of the hill so I look around. 
There's nothing higher than the rock I'm standing on.
A chasm spreads out at my feet.
I notice all leaves are dead and all birds are quiet. 
Stillness is in the air and every single form of life finds comfort now, 
as if everything was resting because nothing in the entire world would have to fight to stay alive
on this brief moment...
Life is still...
I look again and the sun is setting,
I witness its private moment,
its ritual of undressing colors,
its last yawn.
Blue, green, yellow, all the  dressing tones of the sun are one by one thrown through the air now filled with a divine spectral composition.
Yellow linens of air mixing with orange sparks reach the violet clouds softly permeating the king of light.
Then all the hills and mountains go black, brown and navy blue. A wavy royal bed is set for the king.
A king that hides behind the mountains to then, relentless rescue us from darkness
again, again and again.

Vanessa Aquino.

Like a mother

Even before the roughest attitudes of humanity and the most arid scenarios we create with our childish purposes, beauty and nature still find their way out.

Como uma mãe

Mesmo diante das atitudes mais atrozes da humanidade e dos cenários mais áridos que criamos com nossos objetivos infantis, a beleza e a natureza ainda encontram saída.

Vanessa Aquino

Photo: http://sqoutfitters.com/Nature.htm

Back to the city

Vuelvo al sur...
Maybe tango,
Maybe mambo,
The city invites
And I... "compiango".

Vanessa Aquino.

Art Gallery

Foto: Vanessa Aquino. (Pico de Arita - Andes)

I'm here,
There's nothing around
except by some of the most inspired art works of God.
Yes, I found one of the best art galleries in the world.

Vanessa Aquino.


Estou aqui,
Não há nada ao meu redor,
exceto por algumas das obras mais inspiradas de Deus.
Sim, eu encontrei uma das melhores galerias de arte do mundo.

Vanessa Aquino.

Para viver / To live your life

Foto: Vanessa Emmanuelle de Aquino.

Há apenas uma forma de encontrar as coisas mais belas do mundo; desarraigar-se da beleza que um dia encontramos e aprendemos a amar,  e ir amar outras belezas em outros lugares. 
No final nos damos conta de que absolutamente tudo é beleza e a sensação é de que vivemos intensamente.


There is only one way to find the most beautiful things in the world; extricate ourselves from the beauty we found one day and learned how to love, and then go love beautiful things somewhere else.
In the end we realize that absolutely everything is beautiful and the feeling is that we had lived intensely.


Vanessa Emmanuelle de Aquino.

Made of words

Junoesque...
...Someone found this word on me today.

Emmanuelle.

You

Photo: Tiago Lima

I don't know if I know you,
Perhaps I just imagine you,
Like I had a dream of who you would be.
Maybe... there's no you.

I probably stole your image
to match up with my ideal "you",
where the "you" I like is not you,
but the "you" who makes me happy.

As opposed to you, my ideal "you"
is probably boring, deprived of will
For I carry "you" everywhere
And I can't keep the real you.

My "you" will stay with me
And you... you're always apart.
So why do I long so much
My perfect "you" to be you?

Emmanuelle Aquino.

Farewell

Farewell, farewell...
My wings are open...



Vanessa Aquino.
I'll miss it! Thanks to everyone who made it so wonderful!

Doubt...

"I don't know what to do 
to do not lose you without losing myself." 

(The Book Of Nothingness)
Vanessa Emmanuelle de Aquino.

Photo: Vanessa E. De Aquino.

Changes

My radiation changes your cravings,

And you hug me.

My scent changes your desires,

And you kiss me.

My eyes change your direction,

And you meet me.

My mind changes again,

And you start it over… me.

About The Liars

Do you know how it is when the circus arrives in a village?
Everybody gets excited. People want to watch the show, see the artists, be friends with the clowns, fall in love with the trapeze artists, re-connect with the dreams their souls have forgotten.
The show starts and the artists fill up the audience's heart with dreams and promises... some of them are true, but most of them are like soap bubbles, light spheres dancing through the space, so beautiful, so colorful, but totally empty and ephemeral.
The circus can't stay for too long, it has to go before the delicate bubbles fall in the audience's hands and vanish. The circus goes away silently and heavy.
Where is the circus? - The city pleads for the dreams and promises the artists brought, but it gets back to its routine as the truth comes up.
Goodbye colorful bubbles... goodbye empty promises... goodbye adorable liars...

About My Father

"Pater Noster, qui es in caelis:

sanctificetur nomen tuum: adveniat regnun tuum:

fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie:

et dimmite nobis debita nostra,

sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

Et ne nos inducas in tentantionem.

Sed libera nos a malo.

Amen."

God reminds me of my father, for more than a father, it was him who taught me a little bit of the language that seems more likely to be the language God speaks (Although I know God doesn't speak languages... He is the Verb and every verb is part of Him, no matter in what language our hearts speak).

It was also my father who showed me the beauty of Creation, the tenderness of the cultivated fields, the virtue of kindness and so many other magnificent things we have inherited from God.

My father seems like God, because he hides himself regardless of his infinite love, because he acts on my behalf without ruling, without worrying if the good things that happen are going to be his merit or if his children will simply think they are lucky.

I have no luck. I have the sword of good will in my right hand and the shield of justice in front of me.

I have no luck. I have a Father that for so much love gave me another father, so I could get closer to the essence of God and so we could talk promptly and with more substance.

May God allow me to keep this divine connection for many years and that I can have the happiness of sharing with my siblings the fascination it is to have a father that is so much similar to God in his wisdom, patience, selflessness and love.

Amen.

Vanessa Emmanuelle.

This text was written in 2007 and translated now in 2010, so I could share the divine experience I have with my Father with more people. I hope the translation is good enough...

Versão em Português

About a Special Guy

When my friend came to ask me about the pains of his heart I made him the gift of this book. As I was concerned that he could be deceived by the simplicity of the words Saint-Exupéry used I decided to give him some keys to start opening some real doors:

My dear,

This book, The Little Prince, was not meant to be read by kids, but by those who find the kid inside themselves.

I know that you, like the Little Prince, can see beauty and nature as more valuable things than the values society imposes to us.

This Little Prince, like you, was living alone on his own planet having almost no friends and not much going on in his life.

One day he is gifted a rose. His flower perfumed his planet and even though she was not too modest, she was still exciting and so moving the Little Prince would feel happy. Isn't it what happens when people find someone that can finally give colors to their black and white lives? And why are we always confused with them despite the freshness they give to our souls?

Well, be prepared, flowers are never easy to understand, basically because they are not meant to be understood. It's the Little Prince who says: "I ought not to have listened to her," (...). "One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet. But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace."

I know, just a few men can be like our little friend. Although every single man carries a kid inside, most of them forget about it... Some devote themselves to their vanity, others to their shame and although we all know it's very ugly to be too conceited or too weak, they were the first ones the Little Prince met on his journey. Therefore, learn this - people are frequently deceived by vanity, pride, power or failure and for this they cannot take care of any other thing than themselves. My friend, don't become one of them, there are many out there already. One cannot look at the stars or find love by looking at himself in the mirror.

It looks like it took some time to the Little Prince to understand that friendship is scarce in Earth and that you have to give more than receive. As you will see, the Prince was so impatient to go on and make new friends, if it was not for the fox to beg him to stay and tame him, the Little Prince would have lost a great secret just a friend can tell. Well, the secret... I'll let the fox tell you. But I have to let you know this - to avoid deception you should like your friends more than they like you and give them more than you have. The impossibility of giving more than you have is what makes the miracle of friendship or love... trust me on this.

Indeed it is a friend's responsibility to help you to see better. This is why I'm giving you this book, but I'll give you an extra key in case you find your rose too complex. Like the rose the Little Prince loved, your flower can make you feel guilty, but still set you free and you may not understand it. Oh! Explaining love is useless, but sometimes it's necessary to be apart to know a rose better and genuine roses know it.

One more thing, just a relationship can give meaning to things in your life. As the fox cries out "Oh! I shall weep" when the Little Prince announces he is going away, we learn that it is still worth it because of the wheat fields. Don't be silly, the wheat fields are anything you found meaningful because of a relationship, just like the T means a lot to me just because it sings the songs you used to sing to me when I was sad... when we used to commute together. Now you're not close anymore, but I still have the T...

Still, you may ask me if it's too late to retrieve your perfumed planet. I believe there's always a way, but it may hurt you. If you are taking the risks go see what the Little Prince has to tell you.

Love,

The Fox!

Vanessa Emmanuelle.

Got a question?

What is family if you don't care more about them than about yourself?

What is friendship if you don't spend your time with your friends?

What is love if you don't deny yourself your own wishes to please someone else and still be the happiest person ever?

About the Journey

Do you wanna bet I'll die before you?

Who would say that? It could be so random to hear it, but people are saying it all the time. Dying is not just about not being in the world, it's a lot more about not living with your entire soul and succumb inside because you're too busy doing what society wants.

The blindness of social status have got most people so hard it's even impossible to notice how wrong they are about the way life's been lead by the power of Occidental society full of targets, goals, impressions and pretension.

Macro or micro universes are usually full of this race to die first when what really matters is the journey...

Suddenly I was on this race, people were rushing on their way towards "The Goal". Everyone was wearing a colorful shirt saying: I'm cool because...! I guess each one would complete the phrase the way they think it would be more impressive. It was a long walk, something about a lifetime.

Some people were prepared wearing nice walking shoes, light clothing and light backpack containing extra clothes and some provision. Some were wearing jeans, boots and heavy coats... well, who knows how the weather will really be?

Right at the beginning some people were rushing, trying to get in front of the others on their way.

Almost everybody walking was part of a flock, team or couple. As I was part of one group I was trying to stick together and the group, as well, was rushing. I found it uncomfortable because when I walk I like to contemplate what is around... but there was no time, there were a bunch of checkpoints to stop by, people and teams we would have to pass, miles to count, the goal to reach, the sweet ice cream to catch at the end and everything to prove you did your journey according to the rules.

Well, - who cares about the rules? - I wonder and 30 thousand people would say: "I do!" My surprise is to see that so many people would rather hurt themselves instead of taking a break. What is wrong with that? What is the purpose of it? "There's a purpose!" - They say, but not a reasonable one. At the end they always wonder: Who has arrived first?

Keep walking! - The signs on the way were saying and I was wondering if we know already where the end of the journey is and how it is, why not slow down and smell the flowers, appreciate the landscape and feel more pleasure from your walk. Some people make fun of it and can't understand that the journey is more important than the arrival.

I'm happy that I could sit down under the charming short trees by the river and that I took time to see the details of the houses around... unfortunately, most people just at the end, when they are very tired decide to slow down and pay attention to all the beauty life brings us and they can't remember how beautiful it was the whole time.

Everybody gets to the end, the well-prepared people, the not-so-well-prepared ones, there's no reason to race but they keep betting, playing games among themselves. Everybody plays the games and races...boyfriends and girlfriends, parents and kids, siblings, bosses and employees... but every single person gets to the end and surely they are all exausted. Tired of the walk, of themselves and tired of the games.

Sadder than that is to see in their eyes the deception when they realize, (if they realize), that they have finished the walk without seeing how beautiful the garden was or, how greatful the smell of the blossom tree was, when the sweet ice cream was not so sweet and not so important to make it worth it to race and miss those moments we sometimes call life.

Vanessa Emmanuelle.

Photos: Vanessa Emmanuelle and Viviane Souza.

Birthday

I wanted to give you a flower
Any daisy raised by the road
That could tell you about my love
Even though there was nothing being said.
I wanted to put together all the mornings, all the sunsets
All the fallen stars, all the smiles, tears and forgetfulness
All the hugs, all the coolness
All the enthusiasms that we could never live together
And give them to you on an infinite moment
As a way to return what we cannot live anymore.
I wanted to catch some rain with you
Just to remember
That the price we pay for living
Is the waiting for all is given to us for free
And not this ingrate quotidian we chose as routine.
I really wanted to give you a kiss and a smile
Even for a brief moment
Even as a unique one
Because other way I cannot see to dedicate
Mind, body and soul
To the one who hurts, without purpose, my own heart.

Vanessa Emmanuelle. July 2006
Translated by Vanessa E. Aquino.


Aniversario
Queria dar-te uma flor
Margarida qualquer nascida na estrada
Que pudesse dizer do meu amor
‘Inda que não dissesse nada
Queria somar todas as manhãs, todos os pores-do-sol
Todas as estrelas jogadas do céu, os sorrisos, lágrimas e esquecimentos
Todos os abraços, os arrepios
E entusiasmos que não vivemos juntos
E dar-te-os em um infinito minuto
Como forma de retornar o que já não se pode viver.
Queria eu tomar contigo um banho de chuva,
Apenas para relembrar
Que o preço que se paga para viver é a espera pelo que nos é dado de graça
e não este cotidiano ingrato que escolhemos como rotina.
Queria mesmo dar-te um beijo e um sorriso,
Ainda que por um breve momento
‘Inda que unico,
Porque outra maneira nao vejo de dedicar
a mente, o corpo e a alma a quem machuca
sem querer o nosso coracao.

Vanessa Emmanuelle de Aquino.
July 2006