Poetry, Castro Alves

Poetry Corner

By Adriana Lorenzi

Source: www.maganews.com.br

Castro Alves was one of the most brilliant Brazilian romantic poets and one of the greatest supporters of the abolition of slavery. In his youth, Castro Alves studied law. Besides standing out in literature, the poet from Bahiawas also a composer, draftsman  and painter. He died young, at 24 years of age, in the year 1871.

         Este é um breve resumo (escrito em inglês)  da vida de um dos grandes poetas brasileiros. Ele nasceu no dia 14 de março, e é justamente nesta data que o Brasil comemora o Dia da Poesia. Esta data foi escolhida para homenagear o poeta que tanto lutou pelo fim da escravidão. A seguir você confere três poemas escritos em inglês. A autora é Adriana Lorenzi, uma professora de inglês que já morou  nos EUA.  Na próxima semana você poderá conferir um outro poema escrito por uma outra professora de inglês.

THE HEART

It beats

It bleeds

It breaks

It feels

It loves

It hates

Hard

Tender

Cold

Passionate

Brave

Coward

Intriguing

Fascinating

"Objet d'art"

Organ inside the chest

A mystery!

I AM

I am an act of God,

life turned into a miracle,

I am the missing rose,

honey from the bee,

a dream dreamed long ago

still waiting to come true,

aside from Him

I am really nothing,

I am a burning fire,

a candle that flickers

but never fades,

a life out of ashes,

a fresh fragance

hidden inside a small bottle,

strong as a rock

and yet fragile as a china,

I am,

I simply am,

that's why I write,

and that's also what I am

W.O.R.D.S.

Words are fun to be with,

They can be neat,

But they also can be cheap,

Words can tell,

Sell,

And sometimes

They can be hell,

Words give names

To people

That you like

And that you also dislike,

Words are precious,

They can be sweet,

But they also can be bitter,

Words have the power

To bring us peace,

Hopes,

But they also make war,

Break our hearts,

Make us cry,

Words represent ideas,

Actions,

They can sing a song,

They can say I LOVE YOU,

And how much I LIKE YOU,

They can show what you can do,

Shout BOO and even frighten you,

Words can reveal the way you feel,

They can always make a deal,

Heal,

Words relax,

But they also attack,

They can be slang,

Device,

Strategy,

Words can be said,

But not always meant,

Given,

But not always kept,

Spoken,

And sometimes broken,

Words are just words,

And no matter what,

They always add flavor

To your life.

By Adriana Lorenzi

Picture by “la bella polenesia”

* My name is Adriana, and though I have a nickname, an  American friend has told me I have a beautiful name, and uses only my full name.  I am a woman, a dreamer who has a passion for life, and loves writing, and I must say, that I breathe words in and out.  I started writing in 2003, as I was internally urged on to do so.  Poetry is a natural outcome of my life, and I felt that I was guided or maybe even destined to write, a feeling that took over and could not be stopped. I love writing all types of poems and am glad when emails arrive from other people on the web, telling me that I put into words exactly the way they feel.  Helping people is a nice way to forget about one's own personal problems and keep on going.  Another reason that I have been writing is to improve my English..  As English is not my native language, writing in English is another way to be even closer to this beautiful language.  It has always come so naturally to me, that I can consider it a gift from Heaven. I was born and raised in Brazil.  In marriage, I spent some time in the USA with an American citizen.  Sadly though, it did not work out, and I returned to my native land, Brazil.  Memories of the time I lived there are nice, and one day I hope I am able to go back to that beautiful country to visit and enjoy all the good things it has to offer. Teaching is what I do as an occupation and have a love for it, while writing is not only my love, but a hobby and a friend as well. As life's trials come I realize just how blessed I am in God and that He is everything to me. My children are grown and are young adults now.    One is currently living in Italy and works as an Architect, and the other is a psychologist and lives here, in São José dos Campos.   Soon, I will be a grandmother and will continue writing poetry and enlighten people's lives with my gift. My ultimate dream is to have one of my original poems used as lyrics in a song, and then hear it on many radio stations. 

By Adriana Lorenzi

The Wild West

Source: Speak Up

Language: Advanced

Standard: American

Speaker: Chuck Rollando

THE WILD WEST

The Cowboy Poets

The American West covers more than half of the USA and its history forms a big part of American folklore. The country gradually expanded westwards in the nineteenth century and many of the heroes from those wild frontier days were cowboys. Today the 13 western states remain the home of ranching, riding and rodeos.

Real life for generations of cowboys has meant horses, cattle, open country and hard, sometimes dangerous work. But the romance of life in the saddle has been kept alive through music, storytelling – and poetry. Indeed it has been said that the rhythm of poetry reflects that of ridding.

Pat Beard comes from a well-known rodeo and ranching family in the State of Washington. A former national rodeo finalist, he has 35 years’ experience as a cowboy and horseman. He first learned cowboy and poetry from his grandfather, who emigrated from Holland to the American Northwest back in 1902:

Pat Beard

(Standard American accent):

He had saved some money working and bought a horse when he was 14, ran away from home and went to Nevada. And on these ranches that he was working there he had learned these poems. And so, as a small boy he would tell them to me and so I’ve just kept them. And that’s…while I say I’m not into poetry, these are things that, originally, I assume, they were told over campfires and things to pass the time away. And when you’ve got nothing but hours ridding alone, if you’re a little crafty, you rhyme something, and put it together, and a little bit about the romance of the west, whether it was romance or not.

REINCARNATION!

As well as training horses, Pat Beard works as an adviser at Hamley’s outfitters in the nearby town of Pendleton. This historic cowboy store has been selling saddles, boots, hats and clothing for more than 100 years. The current owner, Parley Pearce, took over the business in 2005. He too is form a local ranching family and, as a young cowboy, used to visit Hamley’s with his father. Pearce enjoys cowboy poems which he believes help to preserve western life. There is a lot of humor in cowboy poetry too, says Pearce. To give an example he reads a favorite modern cowboy poem called Reincarnation:

Parley Pearce

(Standard American accent)

What does reincarnation mean?

A cowpoke asked his friend.

His pal replied: it happens when

Your life has reached its end.

They comb your hair, and

Scrub your neck,

And clean your fingernails,

And lay you in a padded box

Anyway from life’s travails.

The box and you goes in a hole,

That’s dug down in the ground

And reincarnation starts in when

You’re planted ‘neath that mound

These clods break down, just like

The box,

And you who is inside.

And then you’re just beginning

On that transformation ride.

And then with time, some grass

Will grow

Upon your rendered mound

Till one day on your moldered grave

A lonely flower is found.

Then say some horse should wander by

And graze upon that flower

That once was you, but’s now become

Your vegetative bower.

This posy that the horse done ate

Up, with his other feed,

Makes bone and fat and muscle,

Essential to the steed.

But some is left that he can’t use

So it passes through,

And finally lays upon the ground

This thing that once was you.

Then say perchance I wanders by

And sees this on the ground,

And I ponders and I wonders

About this object that I’ve found

I think of reincarnation

Of life and death, and such,

And I come away concluding, slim, you ain’t changed all that much!

Cowboy Info

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering takes place in Elko Nevada, in late January every year. For further information, visit: http://www.westernfolklife.org 

you can read the original poem "Reincarnation" and many other award-winning cowboy poems by Wallace McRae in Cawboy Curmudgeon (Gibbs Smith, 1992 ) ISBN: 0879054638 US$ 12.

For more details on the historic Hamley's store and range of cowboy accessories, visit http://www.hamley.com