Catharina Poem by Kim Barney

Kim Barney

Kim Barney

I was born in a bank - - my mother went there and made a deposit

Catharina

Rating: 5.0

Catharina Machado Diniz
no dia vinte e sete de abril
do ano de mil novecentos
e vintequatro faleceu em
virtude de ter disparado
contra sua propia pessôa
uma espingarda carregada
com chumbo, e declarou
que isso fizera por se achar
aborrecida do mundo.

Catharina
Friday, August 21, 2020
Topic(s) of this poem: death,suicide
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
I was looking at some death records from Brazil and came across this item. I have left out a few words here and there to make it more concise, but this is essentially the way the death record reads.

Catharina Machado Diniz
on the twenty-seventh of April
of the year nineteen
and twenty-four died in
virtue of having fired
against her own person
a shotgun loaded with
lead, and declared
that she had done it
because she found herself
bored with the world.

Wow! Most death records don't bother me much, but this one hit me. Such a tragedy that a young girl of eighteen would be so "bored with the world" that she would take her own life. This was in Brazil clear back in 1924. I know that teen suicide is an even bigger problem today. What are we doing to try to prevent it?

By the way, on a different note, sometimes Google Translate does a very good job. They have been getting better and better in recent years. However, look at how they translated this one:

Google's translation started out fine, but then...

Catharina Machado Diniz
on the twenty-seventh of April
of the year nineteen
and twenty-four died in
virtue of having fired
against his own people
a loaded shotgun
lead, and declared
that it had done to find itself
boring in the world.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Spock The Vegan 22 August 2020

Well Kim, I don't find your poem boring at all. Neither is your story about Google translate. It missed big time.

2 0 Reply
Darwin Henry Beuning 22 August 2020

3: 50am, Saturday,22 August. Good Morning! Kim, your poem raises so many more questions. Did she have brothers and sisters? , Did she leave a note? Who was it addressed to? , Does she have a headstone? , if so, what does it say? Reminds me of my poem - Palapala Ho'omau Church and Cemetery and Anthony Greenberg and his request on his headstone - REMEMBER ME - He will be remembered for ALL time with my poem, and now Catharina, for ALL time.

2 0 Reply
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Kim Barney

Kim Barney

I was born in a bank - - my mother went there and made a deposit
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