I feel as if the gods are afraid of me Afraid of me Half man, half god,  and both are afraid of me

I feel as if the world is afraid of me Afraid of me Half man, half god,  and both are afraid of me (x2)

I compose so I won’t decompose  Cursed poet skilled in the art of Arthur Rimbaud Bartender, bring another shot please Because I am Between the axes of Assis¹ and Xangô² Bohemian sonnet, poetry, melancholy I came from a time when poets still made poetry Saravá!³ Ossanha’s⁴ song has been killing me And “quem canta os males espanta” ⁵ is not working anymore, 

here You can hear the thunder’s beat Thor and his hammer, George and his dragon⁶ Ciranda⁷ in the sky, drum rave The gods wanted to cry out of love (x2)

I feel as if the gods are afraid of me Afraid of me Half man, half god,  and both are afraid of me

I feel as if the world is afraid of me Afraid of me Half man, half god,  and both are afraid of me (x2)

The gods are vagrant poets They rest on the island of the line of the stroke,  your pen in heat, has a soft touch They curve within the structure of a hug’s [curative power] But me: I am poetry, tobacco and wine Dionysus and Bacchus alone In the same space Horus out of his nest I open your road I am the song of the world And in this corner of the world I remake myself Dance with the muses among the groves and the vineyards  because in this Sertão Veredas⁸,  to feel is a deep ocean In it I sink to the bottom Unsatisfied with the size of the world Which is why the paper got too small I write on walls, on bodies of the rabble, on skin,  on the tenuous line of the epidermis of the calm soul,  on the curved lines of Venus’ thighs At least, my destiny is not on a star, chaste Enough, enough Astrologers, diverse dialogues Immersed within complex meaning that consumes us Pain disappears when you realise the gods envy men

The world is fruit of our imagination Are we then gods or their creation? (x2)

¹ . One of – if not the – most influential writers in Brazilian literature, he became famous under the name “Machado de Assis”, ’machado’ means ‘axe’ in Portuguese.

² . Xangô (Shango) wields a double-edged axe.

³ . Saravá is a commonly used salutation/interjection in Brazil, especially among those involved in the culture of afro-brazilian religions.

⁴ . [x]

⁵ . A common saying which translates to ‘if you sing, you’ll scare away evil’.

⁶ . Saint George is a very popular saint in Brazil, both among catholics and practitioners of Umbanda.

⁷ . A traditional brazilian folkloric dance.