10 best poems by Arnaldo Antunes

Arnaldo Augusto Nora Antunes Filho was born on September 2, 1960 in the city of São Paulo - SP. He is the fourth of seven children of the couple Arnaldo Augusto Nora Antunes and Dora Leme Ferreira Antunes.

Arnaldo is nationally known for his performance in one of the most iconic bands in Brazilian rock, Titãs. But he didn't stop there: he is a composer, visual artist and an accomplished poet.

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He began to be interested in the artistic language at a very young age, while a student at the Colégio de Administração at PUC SP. In São Domingos, aged 13, he wrote his first poems and made his first drawings.

In 1975, two years later, he started studying at Colégio Equipe, where he had greater contact with the São Paulo cultural scene. There he took cinema classes and published, at the end of high school, his first novel, Camaleão, which was printed at the school itself.

Still on the team, Arnaldo meets some of the future members of Titãs: Sérgio Britto, Paulo Branco Mello, Paulo Miklos, Nando Reis, Ciro Pessoa and Marcelo Fromer. Already at that time Antunes and Miklos started to compose together.

Three years later, in 1978, he enrolled in the Literature course at the University of São Paulo (USP). However, the following year his family moved to Rio de Janeiro and he transferred his course to PUC-RJ.

In 1980 he returned to São Paulo, together with his wife Go. Together with the plastic artist José Roberto Aguiar they perform several artistic performances, which culminate in the formation of the Banda Performática, which performs in important theaters in São Paulo and Rio of January.

He ends up not completing the Faculty of Letters, but continues with the Banda Performática and continues writing and producing small books, editing magazines, participating in festivals and composing.

Between 1982 and 1992, Arnaldo Antunes continued as a member of Titãs, one of the biggest rock bands in Brazil. Even with the success and countless tours, he continues with several other projects and artistic aspects.

In these ten years, Antunes publishes his first book, composed by visual poems and edited by hand: Or and. The second work, Psia, came out in 1986, by Editora Expressão. At the same time, he began to publish in newspapers and magazines.

During this time, other artists, such as Belchior, Marisa Monte, Roberto Carlos, Sandra de Sá and the group Gueto recorded their compositions. He also continues to act strongly in the Brazilian art scene and participate in exhibitions.

In the same year Titãs left and already as a solo artist, he released the book As Graças, for which he received the Jabuti Poetry Award in 1993. During the next ten years he maintains the rhythm of presentations in Brazil and even in other countries.

Always in different approaches, participating in addition to his solo projects, in many other projects with other artists, which makes the production of Arnaldo Antunes so rich and diverse.

In 2002, together with Carlinhos Brown and Marisa Monte, they formed the band Tribalistas and recorded a CD with the same name. The success was resounding in Brazil and in many European countries. The work earned five nominations for the 2003 Latin Grammy, winning as the best Brazilian contemporary pop album.

After 15 years of their debut, in 2017, they released a second album, also called Tribalistas. However, this time, the critics were not as receptive and the songs did not chart nationally as the first time.

In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine elected Antunes as one of the hundred greatest artists of Brazilian music. Despite his strong performance in the music scene, he never left writing and visual arts aside.

Many of his poems were set to music and are part not only of the repertoire of Titãs and his solo albums, but of many other Brazilian artists. By 2015 he had already released 20 literary works.

Because it is such a relevant name for Brazilian culture with its nearly forty-year career, Escola Educação brought together the 10 best poems by Arnaldo Antunes.

Poem: The mirror holes

the mirror hole is closed
now i have to stay here
with one eye open, the other awake
on the side where I fell

on this side there is no access
even if they call me by name
even if they admit my return
every time i go to the door

the window disappears into the wall
the water word dissolves
in the word thirst, the mouth gives way
before speaking, and it is not heard

I've tried to sleep through the night
four, five, six in the morning
I'll stay there in that chair
one ear alert, one ear on

the mirror hole is closed
now i have to stay now
I went through the abandoned abandonment
here inside outside

Poem: We are under the same roof

we are under the same roof
secret
where unwanted sun is barred
you and me
under the same we
two suns
under the same set
(the riddle of love)
of the sun
where every contour ends
we are
under the same eyelid
now
already and still
intact from dawn.

Poem: Culture

The tadpole is the frog's little fish
Silence is the beginning of the conversation
The mustache is the cat's antenna.
The horse is the tick's pasture

The goat is the lamb of the goat
The neck is the belly of the snake
The piglet is a younger piggy
The chicken is a little bit of the egg

Desire is the beginning of the body
Getting fat is the task of the pig
The stork is the goose giraffe
The dog is a gentler wolf

Dark is half the zebra
The roots are the veins of the sap
The camel is a horse without thirst
Turtle inside is wall

The colt is the calf of the mare
The battle is the beginning of the truce
Parrot is a miniature dragon
Bacteria in a medium is culture.

Poem: Name

something is the name of the man
thing is the name of the man
man is the name of the guy
that's the name of the thing
face is the name of the face
Hunger is the boy's name
man is the name of the section
bone is the name of the fossil
body is the name of the dead
man is the name of the other

Poem: Don't Have To

not have to
you don't even need
don't have to need
you don't even have to
don't have to have to have to
you don't even need to need

Poem: Stone Stone Stone

stone stone stone
what makes it so concrete
if not the lack of rule
of its asymmetrical shape
unable to straight line?

maybe your hardness
that no hand goes through
gropes but does not penetrate
the amalgamation of atoms
inside the molecule?

it will be for standing still
in your discreet presence
mimicked on the floor
hurdle in the rush
where does the blind foot stumble?

stone stone stone
impenetrability
complete unharmed
equal in light or darkness
from the Caucasus or Siberia

what makes it so concrete
stone stone stone?
will be your surface
expounding the same subject
of the innermost bowel?

shell that continues
inside the thick body
and crimp upside down
no secret consistency
just full of itself

stone stone stone
inn on top of the earth
oblivious to the atmosphere
that makes her rest heavy
in the cradle of your inertia

with its compact mass
where plants do not thrive
and no bacteria grow
on the crust that the sun crests
until your name sets in stone.

penha penha penha
Fraga Rocha Roca Brenha
why is it so concrete?
for his old age
or for rolling down the road?

maybe because it's whole
between one and another border
in your cohesive way
that turns to sand
when does time disintegrate it?

or just because you don't want to
be something else and not this one?
neither person nor forest
not even mere matter
that the idea does not reach?

Poem: The Pulse

The pulse still beats
The pulse is still throbbing...

Bubonic plague
cancer, pneumonia
rabies, rubella
tuberculosis and anemia
rancor, cysticercosis
mumps, diphtheria
encephalitis, pharyngitis
Flu and leukemia…

And the pulse still beats
And the pulse still beats

Hepatitis, scarlet fever
Stupidity, paralysis
Toxoplasmosis, measles
Schizophrenia
ulcer, thrombosis
whooping cough, hypochondriasis
syphilis, jealousy
Asthma, kleptomania...

And the body is still little
And the body is still little
Like this…

rheumatism, rickets
cystitis, dysrhythmia
hernia, pediculosis
tetanus, hypocrisy
Brucellosis, typhoid fever
Arteriosclerosis, myopia
chickenpox, guilt, caries
Cramps, leprosy, aphasia...

The pulse still beats
And the body is still little
still pulsates
it's still little
Like this…

Poem: Name No

the names of the animals are not the animals
the animals are:
monkey cat fish horse
monkey cat fish horse
cow elephant whale chicken

the names of the colors are not the colors
the colors are:
black blue yellow green red brown

the sound names are not the sounds
the sounds are

only animals are animals
only colors are colors
only the sounds are
sound are, sound are
no name, no name
no name, no name

the names of the animals are not the animals
the animals are:
plastic stone plush iron
plastic stone plush iron
wood crystal porcelain paper

the names of the colors are not the colors
the colors are:
paint hair cinema sun rainbow tv

the sound names are not the sounds
the sounds are

only animals are animals
only colors are colors
only the sounds are
sound are, name not
no name, no name
no name, no name

10 best poems by Arnaldo Antunes: Átomo
10 best poems by Arnaldo Antunes: Átomo

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