POETRY
MIA COUTO
The journey of ‘A Viagem’
For a long time, I dreamed of writing lyrics that were played by João Gil. More than writing “for”, I want to write “with” the musician. One of the most pleasurable moments of artistic creation is the feeling of the encounter. In the case of literary writing, this means breaking this false circle of silence and loneliness and, together with other artists, producing other languages, other attunements. Every word was music before it was born. Even though this song was just silence. A poem that becomes music is a son who returns home. This house is magnified by this visit, which is familiar and strange at the same time.
For years I have nurtured the dream of being able to work with one of the most original and versatile Portuguese composers. That opportunity finally came and I found, with happiness, that João Gil had the same desire to create something together. In the beginning, this path was erratic, with random encounters between poetry and music. Little by little, however, creating the idea of working on a more structured text, a narrative that reminded us of the great forgetfulness with which the history of humanity was made: slavery (we are all descendants of slaves or slavery), the great migrations (we are all from somewhere else), the injustices that were naturalized, like trips whose epic was almost always built on a narrative that turned the Other into an invisible creature.
That was how this ‘Viagem Pelo Esquecimento’ (Journey Into Oblivion) was born. We, the poet and the musician, exchanged trips between Mozambique and Portugal. The project, itself, was traveling. And it gained new clothes, emigrated to other arrangements and formats. Ana Mesquita’s contribution was essential in creating the visual language that would function as the third bank of this river. Without her efforts this boat would not have reached a safe port. I am sure that this “Viagem Pelo Esquecimento” is ready to leave the pier and sail, with a desire for gatherings and hugs, through a time of shadows and confinement.
Mia Couto
Maputo, 01 de Março de 2021