An African Brazilian Connection - Literature

Andrea Cristina Rio Branco

Andrea Cristina rio Branco was born in São Paulo on february 26th, 1965.
She holds a bachelor's Degree in literature.
She has written a novel, Quarto Escuro.
She participated in the Second Meeting of Black Brazilian Authors
and Fiction Writers in Petropolis in 1987

Delírios Delirium

Aqui e agora, Here and now
Nesse silêncio mudo, In this mute silence
Sou criança, sou mulher, sou senhora... I'm a child, I'm a woman, I'm a lady...
Já que os sonhos permitem-me tudo. Since dreams allow me everything.
Não sonho em vão, eu bem sei, I don't dream in vain, I know very well,
Jamais me alimentei de ilusão. I have never nourished myself from illusions.
Mas sem os sonhos, o que serei? But without dreams, what would I be?
quando a vida insistir em dizer não? When life insists on saying no.
Aqui e agora. Here and now,
Nessa solidão que reclama In that solitude that vindicates
Sou rainha, princesa, sou dama... I am a queen, a princess,a high born lady . . .
E a comida farta na mesa, And a bountiful meal is on the table
E os lençois de seda na cama, And the silk sheets on the bed,
Serão o símbolo da riqueza, Will be a symbol of wealth,
De toda a nobreza que me inflama. Of all the nobility that sets me on fire.
Aqui e insistentemente agora, Here and insistently now
Nesse pensamento que penso, In that thought that I'm thinking
Sou sua . . . tão loucamenta sua, I am his, so crazily his,
Que já nem sei mais o quanto me pertenço. That I don't even know any more,
Nesse delírio absurdo, In that absurd delirium
Já que os sonhos permitem-me tudo. how much of mine belongs to me
Since dreams allow me everything.

Navega                                              Sail
      coração...                                         heart...  
                Navega                                           Sail
                       nesse                                          in this
                             mar...                                           sea...
                                    Sou                                              I am
                                 sua                                             your
                      confidente:                                      confidant:
                  essa                                             this
                é                                                is
           minha                                               my
confissão                                           confession
           Meus                                                My
               pedaços                                           fragments
                      jogados                                             cast
                             ao                                                on the
                                chão,                                                 ground,
                         diga-me                                               tell me
                   então,                                                  then
                com                                                    with
             que                                                   what
       passos                                                 steps
voltar?                                             to return?
       Se                                                     If
         moro                                                   I live
             bem                                                      right
                atrás                                                      behind
                     daquele                                                     that
                            morro                                                    hill
                                 Se                                                      If
                            morro                                                   I die
                         prá                                             in order to
             alcançar...                                        reach...

Poems and biography taken from "Finally Us" - Contemporary Black Brazilian Women Writers. Dual Brazilian-English Poetry Anthology. Edited/Selected by Miriam Alves and translated by Carolyn R. Durham.

An original by Three Continents Press. P.O. Box 38009 Colorado Springs, CO 80937.

© 1994 Miriam Aparecida Alves & Carolyn Richardson Durham. All rights reserved. No part of this page may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except for brief quotations in reviews or articles.

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