Six poems by Angélica Freitas, translated from the Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan.
I first discovered Rilke Shake while browsing the poetry section at Livraria Cultura, a large bookstore in Porto Alegre. I grabbed it because of the title; the pun on “milkshake,” which in Brazil’s vernacular means just what it does in English, made me laugh. The voice in the poems stood out to me because it was funny and female, portrayed queerness, used speech from the south of Brazil, and combined local and global perspectives to deal with questions of personal and poetic identity. I was intrigued by this voice, which grappled with the poets of the past but had a style unlike most other poetry on Brazilian bookshelves. I walked into the street with a new book to devour.
The shake is Freitas’s symbol of poetic invention; it is the delicious mess of combination that makes poetry. In Freitas’s vision, poetic formation is life formation. Life in these poems occurs in concrete scenes—a family library, a young person’s room, a city street—but the setting and its artifacts always point to the human interior. By shaking together literary classics, pop culture, pastoral fantasy, and more, the poems reflect upon and attempt to understand the self, and the poet’s art.
–Hilary Kaplan
cosmic coswig mississippi
by Angélica Freitasabriremos a janela mais tranquilas para ver
não esse tanto de edifícios mas
vacas aparando a grama
galinhas arregaladas
galos em estacatos
abriremos a janela toda
não só uma fresta para a ver a vida besta
que se desenrosca amanhecida nos metros
porque lá só haverá tatus
underground
só haverá o blues
rural
cosmic coswig mississippi
by Angélica Freitastranquil we will open the window to
see not this endless mass of buildings but
cows clipping the grass
wide-eyed hens
roosters in staccato
we will open the window wide
not just a sliver to see brute life
untwist asleep from the metros
because there will only be armadillos there
underground
there will only be country
blues
translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan
r.c.
by Angélica Freitasos grandes colecionadores de mantras pessoais não saberão a metade/ do que aprendi nas canções/ é verdade/ nem saberão/ descrever com tanta precisão/ aquela janela da bolha de sabão/ meu bem eu li a barsa/ eu li a britannica/ e quando sobrou tempo eu ouvi/ a sinfônica/ eu cresci/ sobrevivi/ a privada de perto/ muitas vezes eu vi/ mas a verdade é que/ quase tudo aprendi/ ouvindo as canções do rádio/ as canções do rádio/ quando meu bem nem/ a verdadeira maionese/ puder me salvar/ você sabe onde me encontrar/ e se a luz faltar/ num cantinho do meu quarto/ eu vou estar/ com um panasonic quatro pilhas aaa/ ouvindo as canções do radio
r.c. (roberto carlos)
by Angélica Freitasthe greatest collectors of personal mantras will never know the half/ of what i learned from the songs/ oh no/ they’ll never know/ how precisely to show/ a soap bubble’s glossy window/ my dear i’ve read the encyclopedia barsa/ i have read the britannica/ and when i had time to spare i listened/ to the symphony/ i grew up/ survived/ saw the porcelain up close/ many times/ but the truth is/ i learned nearly everything/ listening to the songs on the radio/ on the radio/ my love when not even/ real mayonnaise/ can save me/ you know where to find me/ and if the light grows dim/ in a corner of my room/ that’s where i’ll be/ with my panasonic four AAA batteries/ listening to the songs on the radio
translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan
casino
by Angélica Freitasvocê prefere o cru
ao creme:
boca ostra língua
lago lua lugar
paisagem com pinheiros
ao fundo. você sempre
preferiu o cru
ao ecrã, insônia a
barbeiro de sevilha.
paisagem de pinheiros
com abismo
por trás.
você precisa
habitar as elipses
precisa dissecar
o sapo da poesia
– não abole o poço.
salta saltador
o grande salto.
a maresia come
as rodas do carro.
você prefere o cru
nem precisava
ter dito.
cassino
by Angélica Freitasyou prefer the raw
to the refined:
mouth oyster tongue
lagoon moon taste
landscape with pine trees
in the background. you always
preferred the raw
to the reel, insomnia to
the barber of seville.
landscape of pines
with the abyss
behind.
you need
to live in the ellipses
need to dissect
the frog of poetry
—not abolish the well.
leaper, leap
the great leap.
the salt air eats
car wheels.
you prefer the raw
you did not need
to speak.
translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplanl’enfance de l’art
by Angélica Freitasporque eu perdia a pose mamãe me deu uma cadeira elegante de veludo burgundy. três anos no balé tutus e tafetás e ainda perdia a pose.
mamãe disse vou comprar uma cadeira para que pelo menos sente elegantemente. papai chegava tarde e ao me ver sentada lendo pedro nava suspirava e tirava trollope da estante. “leia os clássicos,
é importante.” era o entendimento de papai o self-made man o marido de mamãe a de quatro sobrenomes.
daí a minha aversão a heráldica e estofados.
daí por que nunca li chaucer antes.
l’enfance de l’art (formative youth)
by Angélica Freitasbecause i lost my posture mama got me an elegant chair in burgundy velvet. three years of ballet tutus and taffeta and still i lost my posture.
mama said i am buying a chair so at least you’ll sit elegantly. papa came home late and seeing me seated reading pedro nava sighed and took trollope down from the shelf. “read the classics,
it’s important.” that was the understanding of papa the self-made man the husband of mama who had the traditional four last names.
and so my aversion to heraldry and upholstered things.
and so i’ve never read chaucer before.
translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan
[só]
by Angélica Freitassó
me consolaria:
o ejetor de teias
do homem-aranha
só lá no alto
entre prédios
não se veria
este coração
sem plumas
– algum vilão
por aí
usa um
colar de penas
made in
my heart –
só lá em cima
entre edifícios
com o aval
das pombas
uma criança
olha pra cima
mamãe, mamãe
é a mulher
-aranha?
não seja tola
ela está
limpando
janelas
só
me consolaria:
o ejetor de teias
do homem-aranha
só lá no alto
entre prédios
não se veria
um coração
sem planos
[i'd only]
by Angélica Freitasi’d only
be consoled by
spiderman’s
web-ejector
only up high
between buildings
no one would see
this heart
without plumes
—some villain
around here
wears a necklace
of feathers
made in
my heart—
only there up above
between towers
protected
by pigeons
a child
looks up
mommy, mommy
is it spider
woman?
don’t be silly
she is
washing
windows
i’d only
be consoled by
spiderman’s
web-ejector
only up high
between buildings
no one would see
a heart
without plans
translated from Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan