Articles from Armando Taborda

ODE TO THE 25th OF APRIL - ODE AO 25 DE ABRIL

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:50:52 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

#

the Lords of Cabral and Magellan

of my youth

didn't need caravels and galleons

to sail

but just some wind

to fill their life

and misery

#

then there were the dictatorship's prisons

that frighten the sailors

but there were just a few for so much hunger

#

we

the motherland volunteers

in our academies

were already aware of the empires independence post-world war II

and the surrender or the combatants at goa daman and diu

on the ankylosed back of the dictator

who ended falling out his chair

without no pushing

#

there was nothing to do

#

there is no fight against the history's stream

#

post-dictatorship single-party politicians

continued

as if the portuguese empire

was paradigmatic for the world

#

professional officers sergeants and enlisted soldiers

and those from compulsory military service

followed silently with their marching orders in the pocket

of the crumpled uniforms

in the holds of the ships

from the national shipping company

towards the immense overseas

ungovernable space by western european politics

#

meanwhile we were dying of

loneliness

frustration

hunger

malaria

and guerrilla warfare

at our heroic dimension of luso-package

#

the 25th of April was inevitable

#

it happened

#

now there is no national shipping company

neither compulsory military service

nor national defence politics

or even armed forces

international politics require that we at least prepare the forces to meet the allies commitments

if it were not so they would never be necessary

ask to the supreme commander of the portuguese armed forces

what to do with them

#

and if you get some doubt

or safety problems no matter how small

call the police

or republican guard

#

we are free

it seems we live in democracy

we are entittled to the national health sercice

that lets us die

and to the educational system

that leaves us on the europe's tail

we are entittled to vacations and to the 13th month

#

we take refuge on the internet

to keep all the world's problems

at bay

#

we are very good and supportive

of receiving refuges

#

the portuguese sardines

and summer festivals

are much appreciated indoors

and outdoors

#

os Senhores de Cabral e de Magalhães

da minha juventude

não precisaram de caravelas e galeões

para navegarem

mas apenas de algum vento

que lhes enfunasse a vida

e a miséria

#

depois eram as prisões da ditadura

que amedrontavam os mareantes

mas eram muito poucas para tanta fome

#

nós

os voluntários da pátria

em nossa academias

já sabíamos da independência dos impérios após a II guerra mundial

e da rendição dos cambatentes de goa damão e diu

nas costas anquilosadas do ditador

que acabou por cair da cadeira

sem ser empurrado

#

nada havia a fazer

#

não se luta contra a corrente da história

#

os políticos do partido único pós-ditadura

continuaram

como se o império português

pudesse ser paradigmático para o mundo

#

os oficiais sargentos e praças profissionais

e os do serviço militar obrigatório

seguiam silenciosos com as suas guias de marcha no bolso

das fardas amarrotadas

nos porões dos navios

da companhia nacional de navegação

para o imenso ultramar

espaço ingovernável pela política europeia ocidental

#

entretanto estávamos a morrer de

solidão

frustraçao

fome

paludismo

e guerra de guerrilhas

à nossa dimensão de lusíadas de pacotilha

#

o 25 de Abril era inevitável

#

aconteceu

#

agora não há companhia naional de navegação

nem serviço militar obrigatório

nem política de defesa nacional

nem sequer forças armadas

a política internacional exige que minimamente preparemos as forças para satisfazer os compromissos das alianças

se assim não fosse jamais seriam necessárias

perguntem ao comandante supremo das forças armadas portuguesas

o que fazer delas

#

e se tiverem dúvidas

ou problemas de segurança por menores que sejam

chamem a polícia

ou a guarda republicana

#

somos livres

até parece que vivemos em democracia

temos direito ao serviço nacional de saúde

que nos deixa morrer

e ao sistema educativo

que nos posiciona na cauda da europa

temos direito a férias e ao 13º mês

#

refugiamo-nos na internet

para manter à distância

todos os problemas do mundo

#

somos muito bons e solidários

a receber os refugiados

#

as sardinhas portuguesas

e as romarias de verão

são muito apreciadas dentro

e fora de portas

by Armando TABORDA, 2022

(post 1st edition, 2023; 2nd edition, 2026)

Absolute Silence - Silêncio Absoluto

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:27:44 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

The silence I'm talking about

is so hard to conceive as the nothing

if from silence comes the sound's propagation until it stops to be listen

out of nothing may have been born the Universe that amazes us

until we die

then we are an inaudible sound that will extinguish in the space

O silêncio de que falo

é tão difícil de conceber como o nada

se do silêncio vem o som que se propaga até deixar de se ouvir

do nada pode ter nascido o Universo que nos espanta

até morrermos

depois somos um inaudível som a extinguir-se no espaço

by Armando TABORDA, 2018

(photo taken from Internet; published under the fair use doctrine for non-commercial cultural purposes)

(post 1st edition, 2018; 2nd edition, 2026)

Persistent Light - Lumière Persistant - Luz Persistente

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:56:51 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Surrounded by shadows the light persists even though shadows are what the night brings to our circumstance

Entouré par les ombres la lumière persiste même si les ombres sont ce que la nuit apporte à notre situation

///

Rodeada de sombras a luz persiste mesmo que as sombras sejam o que a noite traz à nossa circunstância

by Armando TABORDA, 2014

(post 1st edition, 2014; 2nd edition, 2026)

Destiny of shadows - Destino de sombras

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 09:39:56 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Nothing justifies our destiny of shadows

neither fire

nor flame

or ember

we just burn

sparks jumping out the fire crackle for instants

and scintillate

in the smoke

that extinguishes them.

(to read the original Portuguese version please click on the figure)

by Armando TABORDA, in "SINFONIA EM DOR MENOR", Edição Escola de Mar, 2007

(1st edition, 2015; 2ne edition, 2017)

This text has also been published at: www.ipernity.com/blog/armando.taborda/33052

Carlos Alexandre: www.ipernity.com/blog/armando.taborda/98691

(post 1st edition, 2017; 2nd edition, 2026)

Suicide - Suicídio

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 17:08:47 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Isn't a bird who wants to be

inflate the lungs with air

roll the arms and legs as a ship hull

pack the pneumatic bones of thought

climb to the top of the Clérigos Tower and throw yourself

by the flight's end you will have no return

Não é pássaro quem quer

enfuna os pulmões de ar

enrola os braços e pernas como casco de navio

arruma os ossos pneumáticos do pensamento

sobe à Torre dos Clérigos e atira-te

no fim do voo não terás regresso

by Armando TABORDA, 2016

(post 1st edition, 2016, 2nd edition, 2026)

For Fernando Pinto Ribeiro - Para Fernando Pinto Ribeiro

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:39:49 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

For / Para Fernando Pinto RIBEIRO (a)

Life is all

and death

nothing

so you live in the music

of your sung

fados

and in the murmur of crystalline words

purified

fair

in your poems

fragmented echoes

at the far away abyss

viable time

of our collective

memory.

A vida é tudo

e a morte

nada

assim vives na música

de teus fados

cantados

e no murmúrio das palavras cristalinas

depuradas

justas

em teus poemas

fragmentados ecos

no distante abismo

viável tempo

da nossa colectiva

memória.

(a) 1928-2009

by Armando TABORDA, 2012

(post 1st edition, 2012, 2nd edition, 2026)

My residential neighborhood - O meu bairro residencial

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:56:09 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Internet

Social Networks

and walks around my residential neighborhood blocks

are my dominant accupation.

Some days I have an increased responsability:

take my granddaughter to school;

take her back home;

give her food-bed-hygiene-cuddles;

all in partenership with grandma.

Turn on the Disney Channel and give up watching TV news.

Fall asleep just when I could change the channel.

Internet

Redes Sociais

e caminhadas à volta dos quarteirões do meu bairro

são a minha ocupação dominante.

Há dias em que tenho uma responsabilidade acrescida:

levar a neta ao colégio;

ir buscá-la;

dar-lhe comida-cama-higiene-mimos;

tudo em parceria com a avó.

Ligar o Canal Disney e desistir de ver o Tele Jornal.

Adormecer justamente quando podia mudar de canal.

by Armando TABORDA, 2018

(post 1st edition, 2018; 2nd edition, 2026)

Vortex - Vórtice

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 21:58:33 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Wind buzz into the library

deaf eardrums of tense skin to the writing downfall from bookcases

if the words move around orderly

the whirl could be believable

but they don't

rotating letters fall on a piece of paper without nexus

and it levitates

as well

through the mild heat of May navigates a dry flower

slight and senseless

in the vortex

centre.

Zumbem ventos na biblioteca

tímpanos tensa pele de tambor ensurdecem à escrita que tomba das estantes

se circulasse ordeiramente

o turbilhão de palavras poderia ser credível

mas não

rodopiam letras que caem sem nexo no papel

e também ele

levita

flor seca a navegar no ameno calor de Maio

leve e sem sentido

no centro

do vórtice.

by Armando TABORDA, 2013

(post 1st edition, 2015; 2nd edition, 2026)

Mahatma Gandhi

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:03:57 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

I learned the resistance's technique with Mahatma Gandhi

at the sacred river banks where famine swells bodies of cadavers

and divine cows pasture

shiny

fats

with big horns of knowledge.

A técnica da resistência aprendi-a com o Mahatma Gandhi

nas margens do rio sagrado onde a fome incha os corpos dos cadáveres

e as vacas pastam divinas

luzidias

anafadas

e com grandes cornos de sabedoria.

by Armando TABORDA, in "MANUAL DO DESPERDÍCIO", Ceres Editora, 1994

(post 1st edition, 2015; 2nd edition, 2018; 3rd edition, 2026)

I Sink Into The Couch - Enterro-me No Sofá

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:25:34 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

I Sink Into The Couch

With an enormous effort I rise from my seat only to find that I still seem to be carrying it around with me, only now it's even heavier because it's become the seat of my own subjectivity.

Bernardo Soares

I sink into the couch

pliable connoisseur of the body in my weight's gravity

at the concave without elasticity due to the repeated movement

and because writing has no weight

the couch doesn't know that besides the body

there is the lightness of thought

which doesn't accommodate itself

either I stand up

or sit down.

(to read the Portuguese version click on the picture)

Illustration by Fernando Grade

this text was previously edited at www.ipernity.com/blog/armando.taborda/259756

In VIOLA DELTA, Volume XLVIII, 2011 and "Sinfonia Em Dor Menor", 2007

(1st edition, 2012; 2nd edition, 2017, 3rd edition, 2026)

Entropy - Entropia

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:04:18 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

I fight against the entropy of life and world but sooner or later all collapses inside and outside me - from each piece of rubble I dream and through it I continue my aimless trip into nothing

///

Combato a entropia da vida e do mundo mas cedo ou tarde tudo colapsa dentro e fora de mim - faço de cada escombro um sonho e nele continuo minha viagem sem rumo pelo nada

by Armando TABORDA, 2013

(post 1st edition, 2015; 2nd edition, 2017; 3rd edition, 2020; 4th edition, 2026)

Anguish - Angústia

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 18:57:29 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Suddenly the anguish of not having you dominates me

my eyes look at the illuminated mountain's outline

far away

till the limit of liquid and mineral reflections where goes my thought towards dream

while I smoke my pipe

that reminds me many rooms where we made love

till the resting bodies clearness

in the sky

blue fascination where I dive

when I should carry on my work.

Súbito a aflição de não te ter domina-me por intantes

meus olhos fitam o contorno da montanha iluminada

ao longe

até ao limite dos reflexos minerais e líquidos onde voa meu pensamento em direcção ao sonho

enquanto fumo meu cachimbo

que me recorda odores de quantos quartos onde nos amámos

até à limpidez dos corpos em repouso

no céu

fascínio azul onde mergulho

quando queria continuar a trabalhar.

by Armando TABORDA, in "MANUAL DO DESPERDÍCIO", Ceres Editora, 1994

(post 1st edition, 2012; 2nd edition, 2020; 3rd edition, 2023; 4th edition, 2026)

Wrinkles - Rugas

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:02:54 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

I feel the sun

in the wrinkles of my hands

empty of light

the shadows are

on the fingers

rings sparkling

the morning.

Sinto o sol

nas rugas de minhas mãos

vazias de luz

as sombras são

nos dedos

anéis que refulgem

manhã.

by Armado TABORDA, in "PALAVRAS, MÚSICAS E BLASFÉMIAS QUE ENVELHEÇO NA CIDADE", Ulmeiro Editores,1996

(post 1st edition, 2015; 2nd edition, 2017; 3rd edition, 2021; 4th edition, 2024; 5th edition, 2026)

Manuscript - Manuscrito

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Thu, 28 May 2026 09:28:55 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

A few days ago, my step daughter Cristina Brito went to the beach but forgot her Moleskine Notebook. The only similar thing she had on hand was an old Círculo de Leitores novel, in the handag, for travelling reading. It was there in the margins and blank spaces she wrote.

The precision of her manuscript is also incredible, without amendments or scibbles, as if it were the text final version; so clean, smooth and elegant as the hands that wrote it.

Há dias a minha enteada Cristina Brito foi à praia mas esqueceu-se do Caderno Moleskine. A única coisa parecida que tinha à mão era um antigo romance do Círculo de Leitores, no saco, para leitura itinerante. Foi aí, nas margens e espaços em branco do livro que escreveu.

Incrível ainda a precisão do seu manuscrito, sem emendas nem rabiscos, como se fosse a versão final do texto; limpo, escorreito e elegante como as mãos que o escreveram.

by Armando TABORDA, 2022

(post 1st edition, 2022; 2nd edition, 2026)

Stream of Words - Torrente de Palavras

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Tue, 19 May 2026 09:45:30 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

My high school colleague, friend and great writer Antóno Lobo Antunes, several times designated as candidate to the Nobel Prize of Literature, frequently says isn't him the writer: he only gives home to the stream of falling words on the paper which self-generate the text. The plot should be re-interpreted by each reader.

So do I. From the words of my semantic exercise too much written and repeated the recurrent poet' speech shows through.

O meu colega de liceu, amigo e grande escritor António Lobo Antunes, diversas vezes nomeado candidato ao Prémio Nobel da Literartura, diz frequentemente não ser ele o escritor: sòmente dá corpo à torrente de palavras que caem no papel auto-gerando o texto. Cada leitor deverá reinterpretar a história escrita.

Também eu. Das palavras do meu semântico exercício tantas vezes escritas e repetidas transparece o recorrente discurso do poeta.

by Armando TABORDA, 2012

(post 1st edition, 2012; 2nd edition, 2026)

TWILIGHT - CREPÚSCULO

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Mon, 11 May 2026 09:09:13 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

There is

something indelible in late afternoon

almost night

as if the tenderness that falls on the warm

and humid city

was a sensual curtain that hides you from me

behind the window

I look on the treetops at the avenue

they drip varnishes on parked cars

scars on bodies recently returned home

look behind windows

over the treetops

looking for someting indelible

early evening

Há

qualquer coisa indelével no fim da tarde

quase noite

como se a ternura que cai na cidade cálida

e húmida

fosse uma cortina sensual a esconder-te de mim

por detrás da janela

olho para as copas das árvores na avenida

pingam vernizes sobre os carros estacionados

cicatrizes nos corpos recém regressados a casa

olham por detrás das janelas

sobre as copas das árvores

à procura de algo indelével

no começo da noite

by Armando TABORDA, 2018

(post 1st edition, 2018; 2nd edition, 2022; 3rd edition, 2026)

Nude Body - Corpo Nú

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Sat, 02 May 2026 17:27:54 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

Breathing is light

and serene

morning grows up warm

and bright

in the skin

the body

doesn't desire

to get dressed.

A respiração é leve

e serena

a manhã cresce cálida

e rútila

na pele

o corpo

não deseja

vestir-se.

by Armando TABORDA, in "SonhoGrafias", Universitária Editora, 2000

(post 1st edition, 2006; 2nd edition, 2023; 3rd edition, 2026)

Cumeré

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 09:05:33 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

I assume the responsibility of watching a dreams' parade

just now that the whole conquested liberties guarantee to me the right of indifference

and the nocturnal breeze over the quay-bridge on River Geba

provides me comfort enough.

There are lights in the Ilhéu do Rei

and Cumeré

and in the boats navigating far away giving significance to the obscure space

where I find myself illuminated

on the cement breakwater that whispering boats at the moorings

are loving.

I write this text of furtive light

while the shadows of my steps bring me into the night

in town.

(written in Bissau, soon after the April 25th, 1974)

Assumo a responsabilidade de ver desfilar os sonhos

agora que as amplas liberdades conquistadas me garantem o direito à indiferença

e a brisa nocturna na ponte-cais do Rio Geba

me oferece o conforto necessário.

Há luzes no Ilhéu do Rei

e no Cumeré

e nas embarcações que navegam ao longe e dão sentido ao espaço obscuro

onde me descubro iluminado

no molhe de cimento que barcos sussurrantes nas amarras

amam.

Construo este texto de luz furtiva

enquanto a sombra de meus passos me leva para o interior da noite

na cidade.

(escrito em Bissau, após o 25 Abril 1974)

by Armando TABORDA, in "MANUAL DO DESPERDÍCIO", Ceres Editora, 1994

(post 1st edition, 2011; 2nd edition, 2017; 3rd edition, 2019; 4th edition, 2022; 5th edition, 2026)

Looking for the night - À procura da noite

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:05:39 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

The window panes make the refraction of the flying light towards the horizon

looking for the night

and the illuminated windows of the empty buildings.

The purple light

watched from far away

is from the spilled blood

in the buildings' facades

gently

right now yes

inhabited by shadows.

A vidraça refracta a luz que voa em direcção ao horizonte

à procura da noite

e das janelas iluminadas dos prédios vazios.

A luz púrpura

para quem a vê à distância

é do sangue vertido

docemente

nas fachadas dos prédios

agora sim

habitados por sombras.

by Armando TABORDA, in "SINFONIA EM DOR MENOR", Edição Escola de Mar, 2007

(post 1st edition, 2007; 2nd edition, 2017: 3rd edition, 2018; 4th edition, 2022; 5th edition, 2026)

(photo taken from Internet - published under the fair use doctrine for noncommercial educational puroses)

The navigation starts by nightfall - A navegação começa ao fim do dia

nobody@ipernity.com (Armando Taborda) — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:37:34 +0000

Armando Taborda has posted an article:

The navigation starts by nightfall

and slows down at night

magnificent of solitude

global nothing at the empty sockets even from blue eyes

the sky

also uncoloured once the optical illusion sees

blue everywhere

or maybe green

upon my word this is certainly the sea's colour

navigation's abyss

and from salvages

one can only hear the surf's

whisper.

(to read the original Portuguese version please click on the figure)

by Armando TABORDA, in "SINFONIA EM DOR MENOR", Edição Escola de Mar, 2007

Illustration by Carlos ALEXANDRE

(post 1st edition, 2008; 2nd edition, 2017; 3rd editio, 2019 4th edition, 2026)