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Conceição Evaristo

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Maria Conceição Evaristo was born in 1946 in Belo Horizonte
in the state of Minas Geraes. She is a teacher.

She contributed five poems to Cadernos Negros 14.

Her work deals with the social factors influencing the family,
including the power that women exert in their role as mothers
and the consequences of society's failure to provide adequately
for its youth.

She published five poems in Cadernos Negros 1, a short story
in Cadernos Negros 4, and six poems in Cadernos Negros 7.

She participated in the First Meeting of Spoken Art,
a Tribute to Black Poets held in the Municipal Theater
of São Carlos in 1986.

Eu-Mulher                         I-Woman

Uma gota de leite                           A drop of milk
me escorre entre os seios.                  rund down between my breasts.
Uma mancha de sangue                        A stain of blood
me enfeita entre as pernas.                 adorns me between the legs.
Meia palavra mordida                        Half a word choked off
me foge da boca.                            blazes from my mouth.
Vagos desejos insinuam esperanças.          Vague desires insinuate hopes.

Eu-mulher em rios vermelhos                 I-woman in red rivers
inaugura a vida.                            inaugurate life.
Em baixa voz                                In a low voice
violento os tímpanos do mundo.              I rape the eardrums of the world.
Antevejo                                    I foresee
Antecipo                                    I anticipate
Antes-vivo                                  I live beforehand
Antes-agora-o que há de vir.                Before-now-what is to come.
Eu fêmea matriz                             I, the female matrix
Eu força motriz                             I, the motive power
Eu-mulher                                   I-woman
abrigo da semente                           shelter of the seed
moto-continuo                               continual motion
do mundo.                                   of the world.    

Os Sonhos                         Dreams 

Os sonhos foram banhados                    The dreams were bathed
nas águas da miséria                        in the waters of misery
e derretem-se.                              and they melted.

Os sonhos foram moldados                    The dreams were molded
a ferro e a fogo                            with iron and fire
e tomaram a forma do nada.                  and took the form of nothing.

Os sonhos foram e foram.                    The dreams went and were.

Mas crianças com bocas de fome              But children with hungfy mouths
ávidas, ressucitaram a vida                 avidly resurrected life
brincando anzóis nas                        casting their fish hooks
correntezas profundas.                      in the deep currents.
E os sonhos, submersos e disformes          And the dreams, submerged and deformed
avolumaram-se engrandecidos                 increased in volume
anelando-se uns aos outros                  craving one another
pulsaram como sangue-raiz                   pulsated like a blood-root
nas veias ressecadas                        in the dried up veins

de um novo mundo.                           of a new world

                              
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.