O Rio
Barbatuques
The River
I always thought about going
Down to the sea
For the creatures and rivers
To be born is to walk
I don’t know what the rivers
Have to do with the sea
I know it feels the same
And demands to be called
I was born coming down
The mountain they call the jacarará
Among the caraibeiras
That I only know from hearsay
From everything I remember
I remember well that I went down
Through thirsty lands
That watched me from the banks
River boy, I feared
That great thirst of straw
A bottomless thirst
That the girl waters longed for
To the sea I’m heading
On this riverside road
Leaving behind the land
Of my early childhood
I’m walking side by side
With people who are moving on
I’m taking with me
The rivers that I find
