That man was too tall to remain standing in that minibus crowded towards Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, and to better accommodate himself, started asking permission, moving from one site to the other and in a circus contortionist, with his thin and slender body, finally reached the end of the corridor and there, sat on the floor in a more comfortably way to continue his journey. Eduardo settled between two seats, mine and my sister’s and from there the prose began.
Among curves and bumps everything was theme to “throw conversation away and don’t see time passing”. The wheather, the almost unexplored beauty of Barra do Cunhau, a beach located on South Coast two and a half hours far from the capital of Natal, the danger of pollution, garbage destroying without pity that tropical paradise. From there, Dudadaboneca, as known in the beach community, revealed that gift only a few have: to recite a verse taken with emotion beyond the heart.
From there the scenario has changed. The trop was much lighter and cheerful. All who were around stretched the ear to not lose a part of that rhymed prose. In this group were the tourists, the girls who already knew Eduardo from the Barra, people returning to work in the city and locals. The cordel poem “The seven constituents” or as they like call “The animals are right”, from Antonio Francisco, from Mossoro, was exalted by Dudadaboneca that evening, in a boring trip inside a minibus, which besides crowded was full of mechanical problems.
The company of an artist brought joy and tranquility in such a way that by the time the driver stopped the car to see what was that smell of burnt rubber, nobody said anything.
This way, without panic and complaints, in a slow, careful jolt the driver resumed the journay saying the vehicle was only half wheel locked and he would try to get untill Christmas.
Summarizing this story, without feeling any boredom or fear, we arrived safe and sound in Christmas on another bus with a smile on the face. The trip was fun and exciting despite the mishaps. The poem in portuguese.
*In Barra do Cunhau, Eduardo – Dudadaboneca (Duda from the doll)- is a kind of cultural ambassador in the period that enjoys vacations in that paradise on earth. Dances with his tar doll, sings and plays with a group that likes music and chat. People that respect popular culture and only need an accordion, trombone and good musical instruments to animate a good group, with no need to breaking the ears of the neighbor with bad songs in a very high sound. In his project Alvorada – wake up at 5am – at 6am runs through the neighborhood with a themed jeep, before a giant bicycle, and cativates the people with some boleros from Waldick Soriano. The reality of day-to-day lives in Christmas when fulfills his role as a military of the Brazilian army. “I’m an artist since I was born and when I entered the army I was aware I needed to adjust these opposites – Art and military life. And it worked”, he says smiling.
A pleasent hum came from the street, in that sunny morning in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, where the temperature never exceeds the limits of the unbearable, where the sun shines all year. The lively rhythm caught my attention and I went to the window and this was my surprise: I came across a simple scene – a man dressed in orange, heavy clothing, hot for that heat, sweeping the street still shaded by mango trees in that beginning of day. It was the dustman doing the routine cleanness calmly focused on his task or, in this case, the rhythm of his music.