Alma Novaes

Twenty Corners of Catharsis

 I

I'll be grateful like Pietan

Later, when the moon

arise in infinity,

After my weeping

And my scream

I was happy and I'm 

not happy anymore,

 

I felt it in another time

Around the corner, 

Just now, 

Little Bit

In a flash and

I was no longer able to

And no, I don't go back, 

Give me encouragement

until the end

II

There was regular harshness

It was no place to love

And yet, my smile

It was always there

I assume, however, that

In solitude and my wisdom teeth

I'd denied me a new direction

Joyful is how I am

If I can now compare

There's all this distance

The Comparative Parenthesis

(I opened my arms and thorns 

it was my crown)

Miles away from the place,

of the province in another State.

III

I'm already another female, 

Another Woman

Sea and Yemanjá

Christ and Lucifer

I'm whoever I want to be

Where I want to stay

Here, in the place where

I can be and I am

The leaves of the old oak tree

Snake 'til they fall,

No support in the tank,

Where a cat to the dew

Look at me thirsty for pampering

On the wall, watertight

While my fingers 

They walk through your fur

And a slutty cat outside, 

While another loafer 

inside.

IV

In the lead sky

The clouds deepen 

the nostalgia

And the e-mail alarm

Bring me the good news

And I appreciate it 

The fulfillment of 

the answered prayer.

(judgment is good prophecy)

I must have been 

injured bird

And this pain that 

I bring is not mine

And even the wings 

are borrowed.

The kettle in the kitchen,

The curtains in wind toast

And the aroma of June basil,

Hill-not-hill, 

I stay-not-stay, 

coming to December

V

I went back to 

the cat at the window,

He's on the railing and 

I'm a spectator

The smell of cinnamon tea, 

Fog, end of the day, 

from now on

Heavy rain and here 

in this shelter

He asked me for 

my soul tea

And a song imposed itself

In this room so empty

From the random moment

Dido lent the lament

The Present Irony 

Brief Armistice Day

And the tea mixed with rain

I drank both of them 

and Purcell, 

Drunk like me,

He pampered the cat's fur

Like an old coat,

A piece of ball of yarn

VI

I forgave myself every day

Even when it didn't rain

And now this magic, 

Be Awarded

Recognize the 

Already Cold Pain

Of your teaching or value

For every love that ends

Another must be born

That other prevail,

Self-love, to me

And who can judge me

that matters to me, 

it has already done so, 

From the pain 

I removed the honey and 

I've healed myself whole

And I did everything 

I could to make sure 

there was no left over 

Pain for no one

And there was anger, 

contempt

vileness and punishment 

and that was it

on a market day, 

on a Wednesday that this is not

VII

And the God in me 

mended me and 

undid that grief

He remade what 

was less and 

He took away what 

he was carrying too much

And here I am after all.

In this rear window

Where mosses cling 

to the hammock

That separates the fence 

from the path of servitude.

The birds land to drink

The leaves dive unknowingly,

In the tank that becomes a lake

In this winter of havoc

Where water lilies would sleep, 

if there were them

VIII

Drops were dripping 

from the wall

Pipes flowed

Tec tec sometimes shrill tic

From the experience 

of the senses

In the simplest, 

most urgent

Most profane 

contemplation

Passion for nature

That easily sweeps me away

Emotion and liturgy

To see life in front of you, 

Feel the tree, the hill,

Don't let yourself 

be disturbed 

Becoming Orchestrated 

in the Heavens

IX

- Maestro, I hear 

he night lulling

My chest that soothes.

The rain tames

At night there is no rest

I hear it at the gate, 

in the background,

In the drag of time, 

made it run down my skin, 

next to the ears

I feel it and immerse 

myself in it

As if of healing power

The water would renew me

It's raining inside of me

It rains on all souls

Of all time, 

Drunk marigolds

Poor drowned daffodils

The fire warms us 

afterwards,

The Native Flute 

Continues

And the blessing 

comes down to earth.

X

We were untimely

And we've done 

so much damage

To the natural rhythm 

of things

But those, 

when you move them,

Something in itself 

happens

That takes them 

out of frequency 

Not being human at all

Not even a coincidence

As soon as alliances 

are broken,

Letters, torn agreements

Or are intentions 

aligned in the soul

Things come to life

In the inert part of the eye,

In the hidden palm 

of the hand

The wrong place, 

the place of things

Things should have 

no memory.

XI

On this wrong side,

If they are screams, 

they are, 

in a music box

On the breast butterfly, 

On hair ornament

To its full potential

They're a little pain, 

Ugly, crazy and petty

Out of the corner 

of your eyes, 

My pain

spiral, to be demanded

actions, 

the deserved end, 

The Late Final

And betray, 

threw the bibelot 

Against the fury 

of the fire

Of firewood, 

of deception

XII

Love is an animal

It doesn't let itself 

be tamed

Only passion throbs

Only the wound burns

Only the end 

can exterminate. 

And set it free

The Quiet Porch

The Summer Chairs

Aligned

Still guessing yourself 

Exposure fatigue

of the hours of heat

No pity or frills

Except in the dark night

And when it rains,

-Well, let it rain!

Even the porch rejoices.

XIII

The image is clear 

On the retina, 

On paper it's memory

Journey of many years

Can hurt the traveler 

Unprepared and lonely

Thank you to live the story

It's not safe to go out,

No notebook or pen,

No heart, no ideals

XIV

The bare wall speaks 

of the absence of color

It's a concrete, violet, 

almost flower-like wall

It's accidental page 

mental rhetoric

Everything else is love.

That light inside of me

He is the one 

who leads the joy

The sun in the labyrinth

Where once there was ice

I replaced it with heat

An embrace of oppression 

For a smile, 

death rattle

Wall, Running, Water 

Sparrow, rain, beak

The rest I painted

I released it 

in shades of blue

XV

And the heart had secrets 

Who longed to see the light

And they chewed the cud

In the dark 

they only feared

The Pain of 

Non-Disclosure

You get over it, 

you get over it 

Disappointment

Transformed

Butterfly Larva Extinction

Licking wounds 

Cradle Me

They are 

past memories.

XVI

Peace, today I feel it

That you owed me 

a long time ago

And I was riding on it now

In rare insomnia

From a night of 

Chocolate & Liquor

That I offered myself, 

out of love

That I surrendered 

to forgive and I forgave

The wall,

The pain,

The things

I've forgiven all things

And I went back 

to the ritual 

of liking myself

After all, to let myself

be immersed

And to be pure 

passion again.

XVII

It's five in the morning

Four hours from now 

The alarm clock rings.

Essay the pillow

Light Out

(the dawn lights up outside)

The cat serves as a pillow

And sleeps on the pillow

Nested.

Two laps at the start 

Precise deep breaths

Memory light turns off

The cat hugs me, 

a feline paw

Leftover and fall into 

the one who was

Your place

XVIII

A taming of a beast

A jugular

Two beings slumber at dawn

In the sepulchral peace of God

The flute remains

The trickle tamed

The campfire continues

In the accompaniment 

of the dawn.

The day burning outside

The memory of 

what we were

In the past it lingers 

And it's all screaming 

and wailing

And it's all torment

Living between 

peace and war

And now, what do I do 

with myself now?

XIX

In the distance,

the goats and the donkey

Two by three houses 

and cement

The Concrete of Urbanity

The view from 

the mountains

Oh, I wish, 

only the light

I immerse myself 

in poetry

From other times and 

From other people

And dance on tiptoes

On the tides of a ship, 

On the floor of a deck

In the magic 

of another latitude,

I'm in a hurry 

and I'm urgent

XX

After you were gone, 

I turned my back

But love still existed and

I didn't have 

your countenance

That this one in me 

died forever

Love had my reflection,

Whole and truer

In this game 

of give and take

I've always been 

the surrender

the passion, the chimera,

the chalice, the bestowal 

and the spring.

I'm called life, that's it,

after all, who I am.