AS IT STANDS

As it stands

 

I do not wish to have a nation in me

 

no more.

As it stands,

 

I do not wish to have a city,

(urban legends to soothe me)

no more.

 

Brick on brick I wish for open ended walls

 

to meet the breeze on swaying grasses,

In open fields,

the sweat and speed of common labor,

the piercing thought of thought in common,

The common bond,

The common beat of human heart.

And given that I will then create

a nation of one with my surroundings,

a family of many youngsters with the rocks,

a place with birds among the spoil of cats,

a place of gentle stay in hurricane.

 

A clear place of sotto voice and not a muttering,

a place of a capella,

a paradise and hell in one.

 

 

 

 

Erica Weick

 

 

 

SLIVERS

"It is foolish to approach the infinite as if it is a product of the finite world. The infinite is primary. It is an inevitability of nature. The finite world follows in its wake. The finite we experience is a secondary component. And at some level we all know this." Harris.

 

In vindication for all my religious and mystical thoughts

about everything and about nothing
I will pour my poetry on to you
like a liquid with no vessel to contain it
Wonder and invent you
almost be romantic about you

And in the end

you and I will fall flat
between slivers in a parallel universe
a mundo splashed side by side
like treasures in a chest hunt
gift for the other

we will travel,

we will imagine,
die and compost
in the same no place at all
in the beginning
of earth and of dirt.

 

Erica Weick

MATERIAL GENETICO

Genetic Material

Before he died
my Father told me
Cousin Alice was carried around in a wheelbarrow
she was so big, when she was old

He told me Aunties had lumps in their upper backs,
German/Polish/Jewish/Hungarian noses with knobs protruding,  
warts with hair in their faces
when they were old

My dead Father, Cousin Alice and the Aunties
had a way with me this way
in holding me inside
when all is revealed

when I seek still
the hairy woman underneath the waters
when I see signs on foreheads
in new babies born

In the mold of elders
I am the proud descendant of fat humpbacks
big noses, warts
in song

Material genético

Antes de morrer
meu Pai me contou
que êle levava a Prima Alice num carrinho de mão
de velha,tão gorda que ela era



Me disse que as Tias tinham calombos na nuca
alemãs, polacas, judias, húngaras
de narizes avunculares
verrugas cabeludas, ancilares
na cara delas

Meu Pai morto,
Prima Alice e as Tias
tinham um jeito comigo
de me aquietar por dentro
quando tudo então se revelava

Quando ainda busco a mulher barbada
debaixo das águas dos rios
quando enxergo símbolos
na testa dos bebês recem nascidos

Sou,
na moldura anciã
descendente orgulhosa das baleias
nariguda, verrugosa


em canção.


Erica Weick
June 2, 2007, revisited 2011, 2013, 2017

Quem é o povo?/ Who are the people?

Sempre com essa dívida pra com o povo

de linguista que sou,
gostaria de saber

quem é o Povo?

***

Always indebted to the people
linguist that I am
'd like to know
who are they
the people?

SER MULHER

“Delícias e delírios de mulher


É a imaginaçáo da gente
ou é a gente mesma
que a gente sente
tão bonita de repente
de baton?

Todo dia
pelo menos uma vez por mês,
ou por ano talvez.

Tão assim que nem
se fôsse essa alguma outra,
com outra vida,
outras conversas e encontros,

outros amores,
outras delícias
e delírios de mulher.
 
Assim que nem a gente,
mas bem diferente.”

“Cientistas brasileiros da Universidade de São Paulo analisaram os ingredientes químicos nos batons produzidos pelas 10 companhias de cosméticos mais conhecidas no mundo.  Resultados concluem que a maioria dos batons contem substancias que podem causar danos a saúde, como o chumbo e seus derivados, as parafinas e outros....” E daí pra frente, em inglês:

“Brazilian scientists at the University of Sao Paulo have analyzed the chemical ingredients in lipsticks produced by the 10 most popular cosmetic companies worldwide. The test results conclude that a huge percent of lipsticks contain substances which can be hazardous to your health, such as lead and lead compounds, paraffins and others.

The paraffins discovered in lipsticks are solid fractions of petrol. The coloring agents in the cosmetics are derivatives of petrol, coal tar and plant, animal and mineral sources. A large part of them are also suspected as irritants, carcinogens and mutagens.

According to the authors of the research, regardless of the minute amounts of hazardous substances in lipstick, they can still permanently damage the teeth if used daily. Paraffins can cause staining on the surface of the teeth and even cavities, which if not treated correctly can lead to the loss of a tooth. As a reason for this, scientists point out the stickiness of paraffin. Once inside the mouth, it sticks to the surface of the teeth together with food remnants and pathogenic bacteria. Bacteria stuck under the paraffin are hard to remove, multiply quickly and take just a few weeks to destroy the tooth enamel and create microscopic cracks in the tooth.”

http://makeupjournal.net/can-lipstick-be-harmful-to-your-health/

Num outro artigo em inglês da “Collective Evolution”, os autores falam de 17 substancias químicas encontradas na maioria dos produtos de “beleza” e dos riscos associados a seu uso  – “Você tem o direito de saber sobre as 17 substancias químicas a serem evitados em cosméticos”

 

 

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/10/you-have-the-right-to-know-17-chemicals-to-avoid-in-cosmetic-and-personal-care-products/?fb_action_ids=10151475727515946&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

 

 A mulher assim que nem a gente, mas bem diferente!

“das coisas menores perdidas na tradução

“das coisas menores perdidas na tradução

de mim e dos outros em mim também

experimentando com as possibilidades do menos
das coisas menores e mais jovens do pensamento
revisitando memórias da música que as mães
os pais os tios e os amigos da gente nos deram de presente

quais flores e qual côr de tinta
qual filme
partido político
time de futebol
qual pôr do sol?

e quais livros nos foram lidos

quando a gente ainda era analfabeta.”

DEFEITOS

“IMPERFEITO.
NOSSA MAXIMA ALEGRIA É AINDA O DEFEITO”

Ana Fenner Weick

July 12, 2013



ARVORES TOMBADAS

THE SUNFLOWER TREE

THE SUNFLOWER TREE

Work by Ganga Devi (1928 – 1991), found in the book Ganga Devi: Traditions and Expressions in Mithila Painting by Jyotindra Jain. Appeared in Will Schofield’s now extinct but fantastic blog “Journey round my skull”. Check out “50 Watts”, his current blog.

http://50watts.com/images/oldest

From the blog: “While she was deeply rooted in the tradition [of Mithila painting], which was a source of inspiration in her work and of courage in her tormented personal life, she was one of the few Mithila artists to respond spontaneously and vigorously to the possibilities offered by the availability of paper in the region [starting in the early 60s]. . . With the availability of paper, Ganga Devi no longer confined herself to painting the ritual kohbar-ghar and aripan, with their limited vocabulary of symbols and images, but started to investigate the unlimited potential offered by line drawing….”/ 

A ARVORE DOS GIRASSOIS

Trabalho de Ganga Devi, artista indiana (1928-199), do livro Ganga Devi: Ganga Devi: Traditions and Expressions in Mithila Painting de Jyotindra Jain. Do fantástico (e extinto) blog “Journey round my skull” de Will Schofield. A ver o blog dêle entitulado “50 watts”.

http://50watts.com/images/oldest

Citado no blog ”A artista estava firmemente plantada na tradição da pintura Mithila, fonte de inspiração para seu trabalho e de coragem em sua vida atormentada.  Foi uma das poucas artistas desta tradição que respondeu vigorosamente a introdução e disponibilidade do papel em sua região (a partir da década de 60)... não se limitou a pintar os rituais de kohbar-ghar e aripan com seu vocabulário restrito, mas começou a investigar o potencial sem limites do desenho...”

 

(Desenho de Ganga Devi - A Arvore da Vida)

WHISPER AND WISH

"essas coisas da alma

que dão côr ao desejo

de não ser em prêto e branco."

"matters of the soul whisper and wish

for color to undress desire,
    

feathers and plumes
music and costumes of fantasy...

for desire no longer needs

to be dressed in black and white."  

(my Brazilian translation version).

 

                                             photo by Jenn Schmidt in Martin's pond

 

LULLABY/ CANTIGA DE NINAR

quiabo da lapa

 

 

Old poems found inside memory sticks

 

The illegality of my being astounds me

cause I am above the law

below it

just beside it

yet so illegal

          ***

And here is my experimental version of no sense words

poetry distilled

from deeply felt known unknown

glimpsed at meanings
 

Talking in tongues
 

so late,  wish not so lame

imagine a dance.
 

thorn skulls of lions and lionesses

dayborn rift raft, old oak

a love so old I do not even remember

you

titty patty no way a whoh -

pitty patty no dichi

               no dichi

ika no pindiluwe.

     puke puke la ma de

    lamade limaki   tobali   tamade

    lo lo lo       tchu.

tulea te

falima li mo ti

   ti ti ti no le

pa li me

pa li ma

ma li pa

ma ma li li pa

lo lo  ma li

lo lo ma li   pa pa pa

lowey - loweh

    loweh

          loweh.

 

a lullaby in a tongue I did not know

                   and do know now.
 

doutrina das assinaturas