DEPOIS DOS TEMPORAIS

DEPOIS DOS TEMPORAIS(AFTER THE STORMS)
Ivan Lins\Vitor Martins
Translated from Portugues by T. Hauge

The music is as beautiful as the lyrics, and hearing it makes me want to set sail immediately for the Seven Seas. Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins collaberated for many years on pop songs--this is a good example of how well they worked together, but to judge for yourself, you have to hear the song. There are several versions, but my favorite right now is from Lins' CD, "Saudades de Casa," 2007, label, Warner Music Latina.

Sempre viveram no mesmo barco
They always lived on the same boat
Foram farinha do mesmo saco
Like two peas in a pod,
Da mesma marinha, da mesma rainha
The same ocean, the same navy
Sob a mesma bandeira, tremulando no mastro
Under the same flag, trembling on the mast.

E assim foram seguindo os astros
And like that they went, following the stars,
Cortaram as amarras e os nós
Cutting the chains and the problems,
Deixando pra trás o porto e o cais
Leaving behind the port and the dock,
Berrando até perder a voz
Shouting until you lose your voice,
Em busca do imenso, do silêncio mais intenso
In search of the immense, the most intense silence,
Que está depois dos temporais
There after the storms.

E assim foram sempre em frente
And like that, they went always in front,
Fazendo amor pelos sete mares
Making love on the seven seas,
Inchando a água de alga e peixe
The water swelling with algae and fish,
Seguindo os ventos, as marés e as correntes

Following the winds, the tides and the currents,
E o caminho dos golfinhos
And the road of the dolphins,
A trilha das baleias
The track of the whales,
E não havia arrecifes nem bancos de areia
And there weren't reefs or sandbanks,
Nem temores nem mais dores
Nor fears or pain.
Não havia cancaço
There wasn't fatigue,
So havia, so havia azul e espaço.
There was only, only blue and space.

A Friend Request on Facebook

Another piece of creative writing inspired by social-networking technology. I hope it makes you smile.

By T. Hauge

Nanda Abhaya Shahi*
sent me a request to be friends on Facebook this morning.

I admit, I laughed when I read the Email. It looked so funny on my computer screen.

"Nanda Abhaya Shahi added you as a friend. . ."

Nanda Abhaya Shahi.

I was sidetracked by the sound of those syllables. How could I resist repeating them?

It was as good as a mantra.

Nanda Abhaya Shahi.

Nanda Abhaya Shahi.

He sounded like a swami or poet.

Now let me explain that I've never heard of the guy,
but he looked quite respectable
in his profile picture the size of a postage stamp,
standing next to his sari-draped wife.

It occurred to me, that maybe it wasn't Nanda Abhaya Shahi
sending me the invitation. Maybe it was his doppelganger
or one of his personalities.

Did the voices tell him to invite me?

Or maybe he was just trying to reach out across
cultural barriers.

Maybe he was marketing his new restaurant.

Maybe he liked my profile picture.

Maybe the invitation was spontaneously generated
by his computer and was the beginning
of a rogue computer dalliance through Facebook!

Maybe the forces of the universe were inviting me to some new, exotic destiny with the Shahis.

Does he even exist, or is his profile a front, for a mole trying to infiltrate the Democratic Lawyers Council of Utah to which I belong?

Maybe he was an ordinary, middle-class, happily married husband who was building a multilevel marketing company and thought I could be in his downline.

Maybe Nanda had mistaken me for one of the Norway Hauges--the Norweigan bachelor Muslim branch of the family.

Maybe Nanda was from the distant future and Facebook was the only way he could contact me. Maybe the future would be irreparably altered by our Facebook connection.

After considering these and many more possibilities, I quickly clicked "Ignore," as I always do with strangers.

If I get any messages from the future, I'll be sure to let you know, unless my existence is deleted, in which case you will not be reading this poem.


*Not his real name. I'm sure the real subject of this poem wouldn't appreciate being called a mole or worse, a doppelganger.

Your Sweet Presence, "Doce Presenca"

DOCE PRESENCA Ivan Lins\Vitor Martins
Translated by T. Hauge

Here is a translation of a Brazilian song I love. Are the words melancholy or hopeful? I'm not sure, but I love it. If you want to see Ivan performing it with Simone, you can see it on youtube by searching under the title.


Sei que mudamos desde o dia que nos vimos
I know we changed from the day we first saw each other,
La nos teus olhos que escondiam meu destino
There in your eyes, which hid my destiny,
Luz tao intensa
A light so intense,
A mais doce presenca
The sweetest presence,
No universo desse meu olhar
In the universe of this, my gaze.

Nos descobrimos nossos sonhos esquecidos
We discovered our forgotten dreams,
E ai ficamos cada vez mais parecidos
And stayed there, every time more alike,
Mais convencidos
More convinced.
Quanto tempo perdido
How much time lost
No universo desse meu olhar
In the universe of this, my gaze.

Como te perder
How could I lose you,
Ou tentar te esquecer
Or try to forget you,
Inda mais que agora sei que somos iguais
Still more, now I know we're the same,
E se duvidares, tens as minhas digitais
And if you doubt, you have my fingerprints,
Como esse amor pode ter fim?
How could this love ever have an end ?

Ja tens meu corpo, minha alma, meus desejos
Now you have my body, my soul, my desires,
Se olhar pra ti estou olhando pra mim mesmo
To look at you is to look at myself.
Fim da procura
The search is over.
Tenho fe na locura
I have faith in the madness,
De acreditar que sempre estas em mim
To believe that you are always in me