Jump to content
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

agua de beber (water to drink)


Recommended Posts

Guest Phoenix
Posted

Agua De Bebe

 

 

 

Here is water for my soul to drink

given to me from an unknowing cup

it flows through the pores of my heart

bleeds like honey into my parched tongue

a rolling wave that lifts me

past this moment, above all care

i feed it as it feeds through me

and open my replenished mouth to sing

shout, release this energy to fill others

as it has filled me once more with life

I open myself to the flood

as the wellspring which is my soul

quickens again

 

 

 

born from a conversation about capoeira :)

 

not wonderfully polished, but very heartfelt

any ideas on polishing?

 

obrigada Gama..

xx

Phoenix

Posted

Nice poem, Pheonix. :-) It definitely has a Romantic feel to it, with the replenishment of the soul that the water brings to the narrator. I really like the feeling of upliftment that the narrator of the poem experiences, and also find the notion of the water coming from an "unknowing cup" intriguing. I wasn't as big a fan of the image of the honey on the tongue since it struck me as a more typical Romantic image, though the wording of "bleeds" did add an interesting element to the line.

 

This poem has a certain positive energy to it that I appreciate. :) Thanks for sharing it.

Posted

Nice work, Phoenix! :) The poem does remind me of some elements that are frequent in the region where capoeira is common, and it's easy for me to associate both (the poem and capoeira, I mean).

 

As a side note, I suppose you meant as title "Água de Beber" - which is a nicely poetic title because it really fits the overall reading. (beber=to drink; bebe=3rd person singular of present tense of verb 'beber', and doesn't make sense in the title context ;)).

 

Thanks for sharing!

Guest Phoenix
Posted

hehe..

 

obrigada Tanny!

 

i wasn't sure, but i didn't have a chance to check before i posted... any chance to change it?

 

portuguese classes started again last week...

 

i'll get there :)

 

and thanks for the comments

 

actually i was thinking about asking you to maybe help me translate it into portuguese... the friend who inspired it is Brazilian, and i'd like to be able to give it to him in a form he's sure to understand :) his english is better than my portuguese, but not quite up to poetry..

 

pm me if you're interested?

 

thanks :)

Phoenix

xx

  • 2 months later...
Guest Phoenix
Posted

well, here it is...

 

many thanks for Tanny & Olivia for helping with the translation

 

 

 

Água de Beber

 

Achei água de beber para minha alma.

de uma fonte desconhecida

que flui, flui pelos poros de meu coração

à procura da secura do meu paladar.

uma contínua onda que me eleva

me leva para esse despreocupado momento.

eu a alimento assim como ela se alimenta de mim,

faz a minha boca abrir pra cantar

Grita! e solta o axé para energizar os outros

assim como me encheu de vida mais uma vez.

o ritmo toma conta de mim.

eu vôo livremente.

me abrindo pra tudo.

minha alma é como a nascente de um rio

florescendo novamente.

  • 5 weeks later...
Posted

Hello again,

 

I'm a bit reluctant to say too much about this one since it has already been translated and all... though I wanted to say ..Something ..since I know one of those translators ..(Olivia is the one that asked me to check out your poetry so you can blame her for my ranting at you) I don't really have much to say anyways..this is a very concentrated and condensed poem it seems .. I have not trained any Capoeira I have done quite a bit of Kung fu and other martial arts and I know enough Capoeira fighters to appreciate its fluent - dancelike grace. The intensity of the idea I think is well expressed by the line :

 

bleeds like honey into my parched tongue

 

I just love this image

 

..some tiny suggestions of change :

 

 

 

 

Agua De Beber

 

 

 

Here is water for my soul to drink

given to me from an unknowing cup; ('to me seems unecessary here as you said 'my' soul in the first line)

it flows through the pores of my heart,

bleeds like honey into my parched tongue,

a rolling wave that lifts me

past this moment, above all care

i feed it as it feeds through me

and open my replenished mouth to sing

shout, release this energy to fill others

as it has filled me once more with life

I open myself to the flood

as the wellspring which is my soul

quickens again

 

..thanks for this beautiful poem ..

kind regards,

Christian

×
×
  • Create New...