Poet of the Month 049: ADELAIDE IVÁNOVA

ADELAIDE IVÁNOVA
c 2000

 

 

 

for laura

 

in 1998 when they found
the gay body of matthew shepard
his whole face was bloodied
but for two stripes
perpendicular
where his tears
had flowed
that day the cyclist
who found him did not
call the police right away
because the body of matthew
was so disfigured
that the cyclist thought he'd seen
a scarecrow

 

last saturday in são paulo
a group of men
and two Military Police killed laura
not without first
torturing her laura
was seen still alive
by some guy
who recorded
and posted the youtube video
of a laura disorientated
and who wouldn't be
blood spewing from the mouth and from the back
of the dress?

 

laura has a body
and a name that belong to her
laura de vermont (presente!)
was murdered
by men
by the state
and by our indifference
aged 18
on a saturday.

 

 

 

date unspecified

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translated by

 

FRANCISCO VILHENA

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following biographical statement appears on the website of The Poetry Translation Centre.  [It is re-posted here for information purposes only and, like the poem re-posted above, remains its author's exclusive copyright-protected intellectual property.]

 

Adelaide Ivánova is a Brazilian poet and artist (b. Recife, 1982).  She lives between Berlin and Cologne.  Her first poetry collection, O Martelo [The Hammer] was published in 2016.  Her work has been featured in English in Clinic and Alba Londres. 

 

 

 

Use the link below to read another poem by Brazilian poet and artist ADELAIDE IVÁNOVA:

 

 

 

http://poetrytranslation.org/poems/guerilla-bitchcraft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated 13 April 2021