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Distancias Mínimas

By Paulo Leminski - Brazil, 1944–1989
Transitional | Animals, Language

um texto morcego
se guía por ecos
um texto texto cego
um eco anti anti antigo
um grito na parede rede rede
volta verde verde verde
com mim com com consigo
ouvir e ver se se se se se

WORD
DEFINITION
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
anti (adj.) opposed to or against against, anti, in opposition to, counter, contrary
antigo (adj.) belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence ancient, old, aged, antiquated, elderly, senior
cego (adj.) unable to see blind, sightless, unseeing
com (prep.) accompanied by another person or thing with, accompanied by
consigo (pron.) reflecting back on somebody or something with itself
distancias (n.) measurements of space between two things or people distances, lengths, radii
e (conj.) used to connect words that are to be taken jointly and, as well as, in addition to
eco(s) (n.) a sound or series of sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener echo/echoes, reverberation/reverberations
grito (n.) a loud call or cry, typically as an expression of a strong emotion shout, yell, cry, scream
mim (pron.) used by a speaker to refer to him/herself me
mínimas (adj.) a minimum amount, quantity, or degree; negligible minimal, smallest, miniscule, nonessential, immaterial
morcego (n.) a mainly nocturnal mammal capable of sustained flight, with membranous wings that extend between the fingers and connect the forelimbs to the body and hind limbs to the tail bat
na (prep.) a word that indicates location in relation to another object or person in, on, at, upon, toward, from, onto
ouvir (v.) perceive with the ear the sound made by someone or something hear, listen, attend, hark, give ears, apprehend
parede (n.) flat side of a building or room wall, partition, barrier
por (prep.) indicating the means of achieving something by
rede (n.) open-meshed material often made of twine, cord, or rope—typically used for catching fish or other animals net, web, netting, grid, lattice
se (prep./refl. pron.) introducing a possibility; referring to one’s self if, whether, so, itself, himself, herself, oneself, themselves
se guía (v.) shown or indicated the way to someone or to something is guided, is directed, is shepherded
texto (n.) a piece of written material regarded as conveying the authentic or primary form of a particular work text
um (art.) one single; any a, an
ver (v.) perceive with eyes, discern visually see, observe, notice, detect
verde (adj.) color made by mixing yellow and blue green
volta (v.) go back to return, restore, replace

Background

About Free Verse

Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from
limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such
poems are without rhythms and rhyme schemes; do not follow regular rhyme
scheme rules and still provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his
own shape to a poem how he/she desires. However, it still allows poets to use
alliteration, rhyme, cadences or rhythms to get the effects that they consider are
suitable for the piece.

Bio

Paulo Leminski was born in Curitiba, Brazil, and was proud of his mixed African and Polish heritage. As an adult he enjoyed being thought of as controversial. He became well known for his experimental writings, lyrical poems, and extravagant mustache. His style of poetry has been compared to American poet e. e. cummings. Leminski spoke Japanese, English, and French in addition to Portuguese, and he translated works by Samuel Beckett, John Lennon, and James Joyce. He also wrote a biography of the famous haiku poet Matsuo Bashō. A man of many talents, he occasionally wrote songs, produced record albums, and was also a judo instructor.

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