AUTHOR ROSALIENE BACCHUS


Reaching minds and hearts through storytelling



FOR YOUR HYPOCRISY WITH A KISS BY BRAZILIAN POET ELI MACUXI



ELISANGELA MARTINS, known as ELI MACUXI, is a Brazilian historian, photographer, teacher, and poet. Born in 1973 in the City of São Paulo, capital of Brazil’s Southeast State of São Paulo, she moved to the Northern State of Roraima in January 2000 with her partner and three girls from her first marriage.


In 2003, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR). For the next four years, she taught history at private schools in the capital city of Boa Vista, as well as preparatory courses for the civil service and university entrance examinations.


Eli Macuxi also earned a Master’s Degree from the Federal University of Amazona (2009) and a Doctorate in the Arts from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. She was a history professor at the Federal Institution of Roraima from 2009 to 2013. Currently, she teaches History and Art Criticism in the Visual Arts Course at the Federal University of Roraima with special interest in feminism and gender identity/orientation. As a historian and photographer, she has partnered with the Association of Transvestites and Transexuals of Roraima (ATERR) in fighting for human rights.


In the literary field, she participates in writers’ meetings and poetry readings, and since 2008, maintains an online blog where she has published more than 500 poems. Her first and only poetry collection, Amor Para Quem Odeia (Love For Those Who Hate), published in 2013 with a second edition in 2015, portrays love in its various forms of human experience.


She is a frequent participant of Coletivo Caimbé, an association founded in 2009, with headquarters in Boa Vista, capital of Roraima, to promote citizenship through literature and the visual arts.


Photo of Eli Macuxi published on her blog at elimacuxi.blogspot.com



FOR YOUR HYPOCRISY WITH A KISS BY ELI MACUXI



did you see?

war is kissing the earth

exploding child, old, church, man, woman

did you see?


did you see?

greed kissing the environment

destroying river, plant, hill, mammal, snake

did you see?


did you see?

the rain kissed the clothes of the family

that walked new trails

on BR 174

in search of good prospects

and, who knows, with food

a new dish...

did you see?


did you see?

misery kissing the stomach of the boys

and scattering them by the scars

vulnerable and frail

did you see?


did you see?

all day

open holes in the asphalt and in consciences

kiss girls

they drop them tearing away skin

shattering bones

did you see?


did you see?

that in the hospital

the unfairness of the powerful kisses everyone

with their delay

and in full agony

without beds or materials

the arrogant overflows with kisses of indifference

did you see?


did you see?

tell me if you saw those kisses?

or if you are one of those

who only sees, is horrified and upset

with gay love kisses

in soap operas?


Note: BR-174 is a federal highway in Brazil that connects the State of Roraima with the rest of the country.


TRANSLATION BY ROSALIENE BACCHUS



PRA SUA HIPOCRISIA COM UM BEIJO POR ELI MACUXI



você viu?

a guerra anda beijando a terra

explodindo criança, velho, igreja, homem, mulher

você viu?


você viu?

a ganância beijando o ambiente

desfazendo rio, planta, morro, mamífero, serpente

você viu?


você viu?

a chuva beijou as roupas da família

que caminhava novas trilhas

na BR 174

em busca de boas vistas

e, quem sabe, com comida

um novo prato...

você viu?


você viu?

a miséria beijando o estômago dos meninos

e distribuindo-os pelos sinais

vulneráveis e franzinos

você viu?


você viu?

todo dia

buracos abertos no asfalto e nas consciências

beijam meninas

as derrubam arrancando pele

rompendo ossos

você viu?


você viu?

que no hospital

a má fé dos poderosos beija a todos

com seu atraso

e em plena agonia

sem leitos nem materiais

sobram soberbos os beijos do descaso

você viu?


você viu?

me diz se você viu esses beijos?

ou se você é daquelas

que só vê, se horroriza e comove

com beijos de amor gay

nas novelas?





SOURCE: Published by Eli Macuxi on her Blogspot, Roraima, Brazil, 2018.