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..........................................................photo by William Claxton, 2002
Apesar das ruínas e da morte
Onde sempre acabou cada ilusão
A força dos meus sonhos é tão forte
Que de tudo renasce a exaltação
E nunca as minhas mãos estão vazias
In spite of the ruins and death
Where every illusion always ends
The force of my dreams is so strong
That out of everything, exultation is reborn
And my hands are never empty
-- Sophia de Mello Breyner (Portuguese poet)
Margaret Mitchell House, Atlanta, July 2009
We tell ourselves stories in order to live.
-- Joan Didion, The White Album
Vai, vai, vai vai amar
Vai, vai, vai, vai sofrer
Vai, vai, vai, vai chorar
Vai, vai, vai, vai dizer ...
Go, go, go, go love
Go, go, go, go suffer
Go, go, go, go cry
Go, go, go, go speak ...
-- "Canto de Ossanha," Vinícius de Moraes (Brazilian lyricist and diplomat)
photo by John Gruen, 2006
The telephone's not answered
So many times you'll call
For many different reasons
So many tears will fall
Before you find your love
Before it comes knocking at your door
Before you know for sure
This is what you were waiting for ...
It's happened before
-- "Before," Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys)
Sydney, Australia, 2007 (photo by unknown Japanese tourist)
We behave according to what we can get away with.
-- Ned Rorem
Atlanta Botanical Garden, July 2009