English version after the one in Portuguese
Ode à vida
Todos os que conheço gostariam de voltar.
Voltar à infância, à juventude, a um grande amor.
Voltar no tempo, no espaço, ao que lhes mostrava
O espelho sobre a pia do banheiro. Só voltar.
Eu não. O rosto cansado que me olha do espelho
Sou eu, com suas rugas de amargura e de alegria.
Gosto das minhas rugas. Elas provam que a vida
Passou por mim sem ser maçante. Dura, às vezes
Mas cheia de desafios, viagens, aventuras...
E tudo isto valeu a pena, e se marcando
No meu corpo. Por que transformar-se em saudades?
O corpo que entrevejo ao me trocar ao pôr-do-sol
Tem pele meio solta, mas suave, macia.
O porte de bailarina deu lugar às curvas.
O cabelo está mais ralo, com alguns fios brancos
Mas não perdeu nem o viço nem tampouco o brilho.
O brilho com que olham meus olhos para o mundo
Com o mesmo espanto dos meus anos de infância.
Há sombras atrás do brilho, sim, mas não importa.
Os sonhos que sonhei viraram ou realidades
Ou poemas. Dos poucos amores verdadeiros
Que paixões de instante não mudaram, restou traços
Meio capengas, porque não sou boa no lápis.
Exorcizei no papel cada instante de glória
Ou de horror que a vida me entregou. Nada lhe devo.
Estamos quites. E quando me vier a morte
Sairei deste corpo que carrega agora o tempo
Para mais uma viagem, para onde não sei
Mas estou pronta. Minha última aventura:
Cruzar com um sorriso os portais do Infinito.
English Version
Ode to life
Everyone I´ve ever known would like to go back in time.
Go back to childhood, go back to their youth, to a great love.
To also go back in space, and into what they could see
In the mirror above their bathrooms sink. Just to go back.
I never did. The tired face I see in the mirror
It´s I, with all my wrinkles of bitterness and of joy.
I like my wrinkles. They are the proof that life passed me by
Without being boring. Yes, sometimes it was very hard
But full of challenges, journeys, and many, many adventures.
And it was worth it all. Everything left their impresses
On my body. Why should they all become sad memories?
The body I perceive at sunset, as I change my clothes
Has its skin a little flabby, but it´s soft and warm.
The ballerina figure is gone, but gave way to my curves.
My hair is thinner, with some gray showing among the long strands
But it didn´t lose its bounce, neither did it lose its gloss.
And my eyes never lost the brilliance they had, as they look
The world around with the same amazement of my childhood.
There are shadows hiding behind this amazement, for sure
But this doesn´t matter. Because all the dreams I have dreamed
Either became real or I´ve turned them into poems.
I have had very few loves who proved themselves to be true
And the ones not erased by passing affairs became drawings
A bit crooked, because I´m not very good with my pencils.
I´ve exorcized on paper every single moment of glory
And every moment of despair life has thrown my way.
I owe it nothing. We are even. And when Death arrives
I will leave this body which carries now the marks of time
To embark in a voyage to unknown destinations.
I´ll be ready. That will be my last and best adventure:
To cross with a smile on my lips the Gates of the Eternal.
Picture: me in Chicago, July 2016
Ode à vida
Todos os que conheço gostariam de voltar.
Voltar à infância, à juventude, a um grande amor.
Voltar no tempo, no espaço, ao que lhes mostrava
O espelho sobre a pia do banheiro. Só voltar.
Eu não. O rosto cansado que me olha do espelho
Sou eu, com suas rugas de amargura e de alegria.
Gosto das minhas rugas. Elas provam que a vida
Passou por mim sem ser maçante. Dura, às vezes
Mas cheia de desafios, viagens, aventuras...
E tudo isto valeu a pena, e se marcando
No meu corpo. Por que transformar-se em saudades?
O corpo que entrevejo ao me trocar ao pôr-do-sol
Tem pele meio solta, mas suave, macia.
O porte de bailarina deu lugar às curvas.
O cabelo está mais ralo, com alguns fios brancos
Mas não perdeu nem o viço nem tampouco o brilho.
O brilho com que olham meus olhos para o mundo
Com o mesmo espanto dos meus anos de infância.
Há sombras atrás do brilho, sim, mas não importa.
Os sonhos que sonhei viraram ou realidades
Ou poemas. Dos poucos amores verdadeiros
Que paixões de instante não mudaram, restou traços
Meio capengas, porque não sou boa no lápis.
Exorcizei no papel cada instante de glória
Ou de horror que a vida me entregou. Nada lhe devo.
Estamos quites. E quando me vier a morte
Sairei deste corpo que carrega agora o tempo
Para mais uma viagem, para onde não sei
Mas estou pronta. Minha última aventura:
Cruzar com um sorriso os portais do Infinito.
English Version
Ode to life
Everyone I´ve ever known would like to go back in time.
Go back to childhood, go back to their youth, to a great love.
To also go back in space, and into what they could see
In the mirror above their bathrooms sink. Just to go back.
I never did. The tired face I see in the mirror
It´s I, with all my wrinkles of bitterness and of joy.
I like my wrinkles. They are the proof that life passed me by
Without being boring. Yes, sometimes it was very hard
But full of challenges, journeys, and many, many adventures.
And it was worth it all. Everything left their impresses
On my body. Why should they all become sad memories?
The body I perceive at sunset, as I change my clothes
Has its skin a little flabby, but it´s soft and warm.
The ballerina figure is gone, but gave way to my curves.
My hair is thinner, with some gray showing among the long strands
But it didn´t lose its bounce, neither did it lose its gloss.
And my eyes never lost the brilliance they had, as they look
The world around with the same amazement of my childhood.
There are shadows hiding behind this amazement, for sure
But this doesn´t matter. Because all the dreams I have dreamed
Either became real or I´ve turned them into poems.
I have had very few loves who proved themselves to be true
And the ones not erased by passing affairs became drawings
A bit crooked, because I´m not very good with my pencils.
I´ve exorcized on paper every single moment of glory
And every moment of despair life has thrown my way.
I owe it nothing. We are even. And when Death arrives
I will leave this body which carries now the marks of time
To embark in a voyage to unknown destinations.
I´ll be ready. That will be my last and best adventure:
To cross with a smile on my lips the Gates of the Eternal.
Picture: me in Chicago, July 2016