-------------------------------------------------------
CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD
Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at:
http://www.casadegoa.org
-------------------------------------------------------
LOVE, ABSENCE AND POETRY: 'Das Areias do Tempo' [The Sands of Time]
In a moment held in time as it were, Luis Filipe Castro Mendes, poet and
Ambassador of Portugal to India shared some of his lyrical poetry with Goan
poet and musician Brian Mendonça in Delhi. The evening was made possible
through the dynamism of Constantino Xavier, Editor of www.supergoa.com, now
reading towards his M.Phil in International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. His gracious presence lent an added charm to the evening.
As the evening melted into dusk, a poem of His Excellency was read (translation
below):
FALTA
Alguns poemas: esquecidos entre a cinza dourada do quotidiano
e a margura das intenções.
A falta do teu corpo: os sentidos perdem-se
Da realidade, a explosão
colorida das coisas.
Alguns poemas são como folhas de journal arrancadas,
ideia de um corpo ou de uma casa,
música apercebida
entre nuvens.
Outras vezes o silêncio das crianças corrompe a noite como
as cigarras cantam junto às cidades marinhas
do sul, mais perto da morte,
das areias. Ouve: os poemas são alusões
dolorosas, infinitas. A outros poemas, a Deus,
a pequenas obesssões pessoais:
corpo, choro, casa. Ouve.
Se és tu, se és tu enfim. Que me ouves.
[Absence
Some poems: unremembered between the golden embers of the everyday
and the bitterness of intentions.
The absence of your body: the senses lose themselves
from reality, the colourful
explosion of things.
Some poems are like sheets torn from a newspaper,
an idea of a body or a house,
music glimpsed
between clouds.
At other times the silence of the children taints the night as
the cicadas sing by the southern
seaside towns, closer to death
to the sands. Listen: poems are but painful,
endless allusions. To other poems, to God,
to little personal obsessions:
body, cry, house. Listen.
If it is you, if it is you, finally. Listen.]
-Translated by Andrew Benson
After reading the poem Brian embellished the mood with the soulful Eu Daria
Minha Vida plucking the strings of the night on his Yamaha classical guitar.
EU DARIA MINHA VIDA (with chords) (Translation below)
(Plucking)
Dm Bb C Dm
Eu daria minha vida para te esquecer
Gm A Bb Dm
Eu daria minha vida pra não mais te ver
Gm Dm
Já não tenho nada a não ser você comigo
Gm Dm A7
Sei que é preciso esquecer mas não consigo
Eu daria minha vida para você voltar
Eu daria minha vida pra você ficar
D F#m G A7
Digo ao todo mundo nunca mais verei
D F#m G A7
Aqueles olhos tristes que eu tanto amei
Gm D Bm
Mas existe em mim um coração apaixonado
Gm Bb A7
Que diz só pra mim.
[I Would Give Up My Life
I would give up my life to forget you
I would give up my life not to see you anymore
I have nothing but you with me
I know I need to forget you but I cant.
I would tell the whole world that I would never see again
Those sad eyes which I love so much
But there exists in me a passionate heart
Which is only with me.]
After a rousing burst of Goan dulpods the sands of time across two continents
merged once more in Brians poem Sonya from his debut volume 'Last Bus to
Vasco: Poems from Goa'(reprinted 2007)which he presented to the Ambassador:
SONYA
>From the whistle to the kiss
I have known you for many lifetimes
In the afternoon shade of Panjim church
In the dusky waves of Calangute
Over the winding roads of Sinquerim
To the pitch dark waters of Betim,
Basel, Setubal, Goa, Madras
Homes of the self, anchor of the fugitive
Where are you going? Where are you now?
Dawn girl, gazer of sunsets,
Sand in your shoes, moonlight in your face
Aqui o mar acaba e a terra principia.
[Here the sea ends and the land begins- (from Saramago)]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/attachments/20070605/812d7351/attachment.html
-------------------------------------------------------
Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with,
'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era.
This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone
wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by
Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally
by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. For trade enquiries contact
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-------------------------------------------------------
