Francisco Alvim | trans. John Keene
Where the law creates no obstacles
I lay down labyrinths
VAMPIRE
Nocturnal body
with your vicious moons
you wake unholy desire
you stab time
understanding
you hover
over my destiny
your dark circles beneath the eyes
your veins
you my body
my poor pathetic body
that blot out the sun
you bring dark cravings
that lead you to the corrupt
and death—
mirror in which I see myself:
dereliction’s obscure vessel
VAMPIRO
Corpo noturno
com tuas luas viciosas
acordas o desejo impuro
apunhalas o tiempo
o entendimento
debruças
sobre meu destino
tuas olheiras e veias
Tu meu corpo
meu pobre corpo soturno
que apagas o sol
trazes o escuro desejo
que te conduz ao corrupto
e à morte –
espelho em que me vejo:
jarro obscuro do abandono
CARNIVAL
Sun
This water is a desert
The world, a fantasy
The sea, its eyes wide open
devouring itself, blue
What is the real of poetry?
CARNAVAL
Sol
Esta água é um deserto
O mundo, uma fantasia
O mar, de olhos abertos
engolindo-se azul
Qual o real da poesia
AUTHORITY
Where the law creates no obstacles
I lay down labyrinths
AUTORIDADE
Onde a lei não cria obstáculos
coloco labirintos
***
Francisco “Chico” Alvim (b. 1938) is a noted Brazilian poet and diplomat. A native of Araxá, Minas Gerais State, he made his literary debut in 1968 with the poetry collection Sol dos cegos, considered one of the key texts by the first generation of “post-vanguardist” poets. With his next collections, often published in mimeographed editions, and his participation in the group “Frenesi,” Alvim gained acclaim as one of the leading poets in what became known as the “Poesia marginal” movement of the 1970s, during the Brazilian military dictatorship. Some of the key tenets of Modernism and post-Modernism mark Alvim’s work: juxtapositions of the literary, anti-literary, and vernacular; brevity and simplicity of form; humor and subtle verbal play; and everyday subject matter. He has twice received Brazil’s prestigious Jabuti Prize, for his collections Passatempo e outros poemas (1981) and Poesias reunidas (1988). From 1969 through 1971, Alvim served as a secretary for the Brazilian delegation at the United Nations’ UNESCO, in Paris, and later was Brazilian Consul General in Barcelona (1995-1999) and Rotterdam (1999-2003), before he was named Brazil’s Ambassador to Costa Rica in 2003. He retired in 2008 and lives in Brasília.
John Keene’s books include Annotations (New Directions, 1995); Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015; Fitzcarraldo, 2016), winner of a 2016 American Book Award and the UK’s inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses in 2017; and several books of poetry. He is also the translator Brazilian author Hilda Hilst’s Letters from a Seducer (Nightboat Books/A Bolha Editora, 2014). He teaches African American and African Studies, English and creative writing at Rutgers University-Newark.
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