Virna Teixeira

Virna Teixeira was born in Fortaleza, Brazil in 1971 and has lived in São Paulo for many years. She graduated in Medicine, specialized as a neurologist and obtained a MSc in Sleep Disorders at Edinburgh University in 2003. Virna has published 3 books of poetry, Visita (2000), Distância (2005) and Trânsitos (2009), a book of translations of Scottish poet Edwin Morgan, Na Estação Central and an anthology of Scottish poetry translated into Portuguese, Ovelha Negra. Visit her website at: http://papelderascunho.net

—————————————————————-

Quarto

um travesseiro,
bordado
canto esquerdo:
ninguém

Bedroom

an embroidered
pillow,
left corner:
nobody

—————————————————————-

calçada

pequeno, o
frágil
corpo
soluça

vermelha,
a flor
entre os
dedos

sidewalk

tiny, the
fragile
body
weeps

scarlet
flower
between
fingers

—————————————————————-

playground do diabo

de manhã, a luz
     sobre

o vestido
amarelo

brilha

no rosto dela

a escuridão lá dentro.

devil’s playground

at dawn, the light
     on

the yellow
dress

shines

on her face

the darkness inside.

—————————————————————-

LICHTENSTEIN

desenhar uma pin-up
seus contornos, scarpins
tornozelos

a crying girl
señorita, altiva

colar de contas
batom e cílios

platinum blonde
dentro de um ford

LICHTENSTEIN

to draw a pin-up
her curves, scarpins
ankles

a crying girl
proud señorita

beaded necklace
lipstick and eyelashes

platinum blonde
inside a Ford

—————————————————————-

Noturno

O que enxergava, no silêncio
escuro de estrelas

verniz prateado
sobre as águas, o deserto
longo da praia
descalça

uma margem de pequenas
pedras

cascalho, conchas

e o movimento inquieto dos
peixes
entre as ondas
nadando em direções

contrárias

Nocturnal

What she saw, in the dark
silence of stars

silver varnish
over waters, the long
sandy desert
barefoot

a shore of little
stones

pebble, shells

and the restless movement
fishes
between the waves
swimming this way

that way

—————————————————————-

Detox

Enrolou os ferimentos em gaze. Feridas cicatrizam com o tempo. Ainda que
restem entalhes. Memórias desenhadas nos ossos, adornos.

Tirou fotografias como registros. Meses após o trauma. Sem sangue
nas conjuntivas.

Deixou para trás a câmera. Travesseiro, lençol branco, a água
morna do banho. Inverno, lembrança noturna.

A transformação do rosto. Quando retirou as ataduras,
as suturas.

No dia da partida, árvores. De perfil no trem, a luz sobre os
cabelos, castanhos.

Detox

Wrapped the wounds in gauze. Sores scar with time. Even if
notches remain. Memories drawn in the bones, adornments.

Took pictures as recordings. Months after the trauma. No blood
in the conjunctives.

Left the camera behind. Pillow, white sheet, warm bath water.
Winter, nocturnal recall.

The transformation of the face. When the bandages were removed,
the stitches.

On the departure day, trees. In profile at the train, the light on the
hair, chestnut brown.

—————————————————————-

Santarém*

amurada –
mochila, livro
Lèvi-
Strauss :
Tristes
Tropiques

de camiseta, costas
desenhadas no suor
debruçadas sobre

rio, páginas

tardes longas desabitadas

sala vazia
esperando notícias

Santarém*

deck –
rucksack, book
Lèvi-
Strauss :
Tristes
Tropiques

t-shirt, back
outlined by sweat
bent over

river, pages

long vacant days

empty room
waiting for news

—————————————————————-

Fin de siècle

Esfregava as costas
               dela
na banheira
cuidando do amor
recém-nascido.

Fin de siècle

Rubbing her back
               in the
bath tub
taking care of the
new-born love.

—————————————————————-

*Santarém is a city in the state of Pará in Brazil.

All poems were originally written in Portuguese by Virna Teixeira.
calçada (sidewalk), Quarto (Bedroom), and LICHTENSTEIN were translated by Virna Teixeira.
playground do diabo (devil’s playground), Noturno (Nocturnal), Detox, and Santarém were translated by Virna Teixeira and Edward Leek.
Fin de siècle was translated by Virna Teixeira and Richard Price.

Return to Issue 52

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Scrambler Books presents…

new forms and meditations for the pressurized libertine monk by j/j hastain Glimpses by Neila Mezynski Everything is Quiet by Kendra Grant Malone long love poem with descriptive title by Matthew Savoca A Cake Appeared by Shane Jones Inconceivable Wilson by J.A. Tyler The Dwell by Eleanor Johnson Reanimated, Somehow by Valerie Loveland Rarer and More wonderful by Trevor Calvert

 

AVAILABLE TITLES:

new forms and meditations for the pressurized libertine monk by j/j hastain (2012)
Glimpses poetry by Neila Mezynski (2011)
Everything is Quiet poetry by Kendra Grant Malone (2010)
long love poem with descriptive title poetry by Matthew Savoca (2010)
A Cake Appeared poetry by Shane Jones (2010)
Inconceivable Wilson a novella by J.A. Tyler (2009)
The Dwell poetry by Eleanor Johnson (2009)
Reanimated, Somehow poetry by Valerie Loveland (2009)
Rarer and More Wonderful poetry by Trevor Calvert (2008)

FORTHCOMING TITLES:

Bluebird and Other Tattoos / Bluebird y Otros Tatuajes poetry by Luna Miguel (Feb. 2012) Bilingual edition
Corn Exchange poetry by Helen Vitoria (Spring 2012)
The Town of Shadows fiction by Lindsay Stern (2012)
You Private Person fiction by Richard Chiem (2012)
Wilson (Re)Conceived fiction by J.A. Tyler (Late 2012)
A Story short fiction by Neila Mezynski (2012)

 

read more

Translations

Starting in 2012 The Scrambler will feature writers from countries other than the USA. Selected writings from writers written in their native language as well as English translations of those selected pieces will be featured regularly and archived here. Stay tuned.

Virna Teixeira was born in Fortaleza, Brazil in 1971 and has lived in São Paulo for many years. She graduated in Medicine, specialized as a neurologist and obtained a MSc in Sleep Disorders at Edinburgh University in 2003. Virna has published 3 books of poetry, Visita (2000), Distância (2005) and Trânsitos (2009), a book of translations of Scottish poet Edwin Morgan titledNa Estação Central and an anthology of Scottish poetry translated into Portuguese, titled Ovelha Negra. Visit her website at: http://papelderascunho.net

—————————————————————-

Quarto

um travesseiro,
bordado
canto esquerdo:
ninguém

Bedroom

an embroidered
pillow,
left corner:
nobody

—————————————————————-

calçada

pequeno, o
frágil
corpo
soluça

vermelha,
a flor
entre os
dedos

sidewalk

tiny, the
fragile
body
weeps

scarlet
flower
between
fingers

—————————————————————-

playground do diabo

de manhã, a luz
     sobre

o vestido
amarelo

brilha

no rosto dela

a escuridão lá dentro.

devil’s playground

at dawn, the light
     on

the yellow
dress

shines

on her face

the darkness inside.

—————————————————————-

LICHTENSTEIN

desenhar uma pin-up
seus contornos, scarpins
tornozelos

a crying girl
señorita, altiva

colar de contas
batom e cílios

platinum blonde
dentro de um ford

LICHTENSTEIN

to draw a pin-up
her curves, scarpins
ankles

a crying girl
proud señorita

beaded necklace
lipstick and eyelashes

platinum blonde
inside a Ford

—————————————————————-

Noturno

O que enxergava, no silêncio
escuro de estrelas

verniz prateado
sobre as águas, o deserto
longo da praia
descalça

uma margem de pequenas
pedras

cascalho, conchas

e o movimento inquieto dos
peixes
entre as ondas
nadando em direções

contrárias

Nocturnal

What she saw, in the dark
silence of stars

silver varnish
over waters, the long
sandy desert
barefoot

a shore of little
stones

pebble, shells

and the restless movement
fishes
between the waves
swimming this way

that way

—————————————————————-

Detox

Enrolou os ferimentos em gaze. Feridas cicatrizam com o tempo. Ainda que
restem entalhes. Memórias desenhadas nos ossos, adornos.

Tirou fotografias como registros. Meses após o trauma. Sem sangue
nas conjuntivas.

Deixou para trás a câmera. Travesseiro, lençol branco, a água
morna do banho. Inverno, lembrança noturna.

A transformação do rosto. Quando retirou as ataduras,
as suturas.

No dia da partida, árvores. De perfil no trem, a luz sobre os
cabelos, castanhos.

Detox

Wrapped the wounds in gauze. Sores scar with time. Even if
notches remain. Memories drawn in the bones, adornments.

Took pictures as recordings. Months after the trauma. No blood
in the conjunctives.

Left the camera behind. Pillow, white sheet, warm bath water.
Winter, nocturnal recall.

The transformation of the face. When the bandages were removed,
the stitches.

On the departure day, trees. In profile at the train, the light on the
hair, chestnut brown.

—————————————————————-

Santarém*

amurada –
mochila, livro
Lèvi-
Strauss :
Tristes
Tropiques

de camiseta, costas
desenhadas no suor
debruçadas sobre

rio, páginas

tardes longas desabitadas

sala vazia
esperando notícias

Santarém*

deck –
rucksack, book
Lèvi-
Strauss :
Tristes
Tropiques

t-shirt, back
outlined by sweat
bent over

river, pages

long vacant days

empty room
waiting for news

—————————————————————-

Fin de siècle

Esfregava as costas
               dela
na banheira
cuidando do amor
recém-nascido.

Fin de siècle

Rubbing her back
               in the
bath tub
taking care of the
new-born love.

—————————————————————-

*Santarém is a city in the state of Pará in Brazil.

All poems were originally written in Portuguese by Virna Teixeira.
calçada (sidewalk), Quarto (Bedroom), and LICHTENSTEIN were translated by Virna Teixeira.
playground do diabo (devil’s playground), Noturno (Nocturnal), Detox, Santarém were translated by Virna Teixeira and Edward Leek.
Fin de siècle was translated by Virna Teixeira and Richard Price.

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Issue 52 – January/February 2012

poetry

4 poems by Sunshine Faggio

Casita by Aaron Dailey

8 poems by Virna Teixeira

terracotta by Meg Cameron

Switch by Ben Parker

fiction

IV – Substances Commonly Misused (an excerpt from The Quantum Manual of Style) by Brian Mihok

art

Various Characters & Riding the Shooting Star by Kiyasu Green

music

Playlist #30 compiled by Melanie Uyeda

reviews

The Three Musketeers a movie review by Heather Craig

Modern Family Season 2 a DVD review by Heather Craig

Dust, Spittle & Wind a book by Sanya Osha reviewed by Hillary Raphael

Yellow Fringe Dress by Neila Mezynski reviewed by Jeremy Spencer

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