* — July 6, 2022
Two poems

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bar do nó

você me pedia para discutir
a semiótica dos vídeos
exibidos na tela
numa daquelas festinhas
de galpão que a gente
costumava ir
eu te pedia
pra cuidar
do meu colete jeans
e não deixar perder
nenhum dos broches
o que eu estava pedindo
era pra você vir me ver
o que estávamos pedindo
um ao outro
era isso.


bar do nó


you asked me to discuss
the semiotics of the videos
projected onto the screen
at one of those
warehouse parties
we used to go to
I asked you
to look after
my denim jacket
and not to lose
any of the pins
what I was asking
was for you to come see me
that was what it was
what we were asking
each other
was that.

********************************

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rápido, seu endereço
eu estou, você sabe
reunindo endereços
o máximo que conseguir
mas o seu principalmente
preciso do seu
me manda, assim que der
eu estou, você sabe
precisando de seu endereço
eu li um pequeno livro
hoje de manhã e vou imprimir
mandar para vários endereços
mas o seu principalmente o seu
no seu exemplar ilegal envio
uma carta de amor e confissão
estou cometendo um crime
mas não acredito tanto nisso
eu quero mandar esse livro
para diversos endereços
mas o seu vai junto com
uma carta na qual digo
tudo que me fez lembrar de
você nesse livro que imprimi
com alguma vontade você também
vai me encontrar não só pela
carta a gente não vai mais se ver
me mande, ao menos, o endereço
não vou te procurar só quero
te enviar o pequeno livro que li
hoje de manhã junto com uma carta
de amor e confissão mas para isso
eu preciso do endereço estou na fila
dos correios e a moça não vai me deixar
escolher o selo postal mas ande
seu endereço.


(untitled poem)


quick,
your address
I’m, you know
gathering addresses
as many as I can manage
but mainly yours
I need yours
send it as soon as you can
I’m, you know
in need of your address
I read a short book
this morning and I’m going to print it out
and send it to various addresses
but yours, mainly yours
inside your illegal copy I’m sending
a love letter and a statement of confession
I’m committing a crime
but I don’t really believe in that
I want to send this book
to several addresses
but yours will go together with
a letter in which I say
everything that reminded me of
you in this book I printed out
quite energetically and you won’t
have to meet me, only via the
letter, we won’t see each other again
send me, at least, your address
I won’t go looking for you I just want
to send you the short book I read
this morning together with a love
letter and a statement of confession but to do that
I need your address I’m in the queue
at the post office and the girl won’t let me
choose the stamp I want but please,
your address.

Originally published in No Tokens Issue No. 10. View full issue & more.
*

Letícia Carvalho (Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil, 1994) is a Brazilian poet. She holds a literature degree from the Federal University of Bahia and she is based in the city of Salvador, where she is currently working as a tutor. Her first poetry collection eu devia ter visto isso chegando [I should have seen this coming] was published in Brazil by Paralelo13S press in 2020. Her work has previously appeared in English in Figure 1 (2021) and the bilingual anthology Women Poets from Bahia (2021). Instagram profile: @_leleuris

 

Sarah Rebecca Kersley is a translator, poet and editor, originally from the UK and based in Brazil for over a decade. Her work has appeared in places such as The Elevation Review, Asymptote Journal, Denver Quarterly, Isele Magazine, and elsewhere. She co-runs Livraria Boto-cor-de-rosa, a bookshop and small press focused on contemporary literature, in the city of Salvador, where she is based. Instagram profile: @sarahrebeccakersley