ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Kay - Poet
A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool.

Why you should listen

Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Not only did Sarah Kay do that -- she also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off.

Sarah holds a Masters degree in the art of teaching from Brown University and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Grinnell College. Her first book, B, was ranked the number one poetry book on Amazon.com. Her second book, No Matter the Wreckage, is available from Write Bloody Publishing.

Sarah also founded Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool. Project VOICE runs performances and workshops to encourage people to engage in creative self-expression in schools and communities around the world.

More profile about the speaker
Sarah Kay | Speaker | TED.com
TED2019

Sarah Kay: "A Bird Made of Birds"

Sarah Kay: "A Bird Made of Birds", "Um Pássaro Feito de Pássaros"

Filmed:
1,727,091 views

"O Universo já escreveu o poema que você estava planejando escrever", diz Sarah Kay, citando o amigo dela, o poeta Kaveh Akbar. Apresentando "A Bird Made of Birds" ("Um Pássaro Feito de Pássaros"), ela compartilha como e onde encontra poesia. (Kay também é a apresentadora do podcast do TED "Sincerely, X". Você pode ouvir no aplicativo de podcast Luminary em luminary.link/ted.)
- Poet
A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I have a friend named Kaveh Akbar,
who is a fellow poet.
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Tenho um amigo chamado Kaveh Akbar,
que é um colega poeta.
00:18
And Kaveh found this photo online
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Ele encontrou uma foto on-line
00:21
of the anatomical heart of a blue whale
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do coração anatômico de uma baleia azul
00:25
that scientists had hung
on a hook from the ceiling,
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que os cientistas haviam pendurado
em um gancho no teto,
00:29
which is how they were able to observe
that the heart of a blue whale
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que é como eles puderam observar
que o coração de uma baleia azul
00:32
is big enough that a person
can stand up fully inside of it.
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é grande o suficiente para que uma pessoa
possa ficar totalmente em pé dentro dele.
00:37
And when Kaveh shared this photo online,
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Quando Kaveh compartilhou
essa foto on-line,
00:40
he did so with the caption,
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fez isso com a legenda:
00:42
"This is another reminder
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"Este é outro lembrete
00:45
that the universe has already written
the poem you were planning on writing."
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de que o Universo já escreveu o poema
que você estava planejando escrever".
00:52
And when I first saw that,
I was horrified.
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Quando vi isso pela primeira vez,
fiquei horrorizada.
00:55
I was like, "Come on, man!
I'm trying to invent new metaphors!
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Fiquei assim: "Vamos lá, cara!
Estou tentando inventar novas metáforas!
00:58
I'm trying to discover beauty
that hasn't been discovered yet.
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Estou tentando descobrir a beleza
que ainda não foi descoberta.
01:01
What do you mean, the universe
is always going to get there before me?"
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O que você quer dizer com o Universo
sempre chegará antes de mim?"
01:05
And I know this isn't
a uniquely poet problem,
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Sei que esse não é um problema
exclusivamente poético,
01:08
but on days when the world
feels especially big
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mas, nos dias em que o mundo
se sente especialmente grande
01:14
or especially impossible
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ou especialmente impossível
01:16
or especially full of grandeur,
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ou especialmente cheio de grandeza,
01:19
those are the days when I feel,
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esses são os dias em que eu sinto:
01:22
"What do I possibly have to contribute
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"O que eu tenho possivelmente
para contribuir
01:25
to all of this?"
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com tudo isso?"
01:28
Not long ago, I saw this video
that some of you may have seen.
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Não faz muito tempo, vi um vídeo
que alguns devem ter visto.
01:31
It makes the internet rounds
every couple of months.
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Circula pela internet a cada dois meses.
01:34
There are these birds
that are called starlings,
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Há pássaros, chamados de estorninhos,
01:36
and they fly in what's
called a "murmuration,"
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que voam no que é chamado
de "murmuração",
01:40
which is generally
just a big cloud of birds.
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que é geralmente apenas
uma grande nuvem de pássaros.
01:43
And someone happened to catch
a quick video on their phone
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Alguém conseguiu fazer
um vídeo rápido com o celular
01:47
of these starlings flying.
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desses estorninhos voando.
01:50
And at first, it's just an amorphous blob,
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A princípio, é apenas uma bolha amorfa.
01:53
and then there's a moment
where the birds shift,
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Então, há um momento
em que os pássaros mudam
01:56
and they form the shape of a starling
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e assumem a forma de um estorninho
02:00
in the sky!
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no céu!
02:02
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
02:03
And as soon as I saw it, I was like,
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Assim que eu vi, fiquei tipo:
02:05
(Gasps) "The universe has already
written the poem
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"O Universo já escreveu o poema
que você estava planejando escrever!"
02:08
you were planning on writing!"
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02:09
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
Exceto na primeira vez,
isso não me encheu de desespero.
02:10
Except, for the first time,
it didn't fill me with despair.
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02:14
Instead, I thought, "OK.
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Em vez disso, pensei:
"Tudo bem,
02:17
Maybe it's not my job
to invent something new.
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talvez não seja minha tarefa
inventar algo novo.
02:21
Maybe instead it's my job to listen
to what the universe is showing me
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Em vez disso, talvez seja escutar
o que o Universo está me mostrando
02:28
and to keep myself open
to what the universe offers,
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e me manter aberta ao que ele oferece,
02:33
so that when it's my turn,
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de modo que, quando chegar a minha vez,
02:35
I can hold something to the light,
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eu possa segurar algo para a luz,
02:38
just for a moment,
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só por um momento,
02:40
just for as long as I have.
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apenas pelo tempo que eu tiver.
02:43
The universe has already written the poem
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O Universo já escreveu o poema
02:48
that you were planning on writing.
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que você estava planejando escrever.
02:51
And this is why
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E é por isso
02:53
you can do nothing
but point at the flock of starlings
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que você não pode fazer nada
a não ser apontar
para o bando de estorninhos
02:59
whose bodies rise and fall
in inherited choreography,
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cujos corpos sobem e descem
em coreografia herdada,
03:05
swarming the sky in a sweeping curtain
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invadem o céu em uma ampla cortina
03:09
that, for one blistering moment,
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que, por um momento muito rápido,
03:12
forms the unmistakeable shape
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assume a forma inconfundível
03:14
of a giant bird
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de um pássaro gigante
03:16
flapping against the sky.
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agitando-se contra o céu.
03:19
It is why your mouth forms an "o"
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É por isso que sua boca forma um "o"
03:23
that is not a gasp,
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que não é um suspiro,
03:24
but rather, the beginning of,
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mas sim o começo de:
03:27
"Oh. Of course."
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"Oh, claro".
03:30
As in, of course the heart of a blue whale
is as large as a house
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Como em:
oh, claro, o coração de uma baleia azul
é tão grande quanto uma casa
03:36
with chambers tall enough
to fit a person standing.
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com câmaras altas o bastante
para acomodar uma pessoa em pé.
03:40
Of course a fig becomes possible
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Oh, claro que um figo se torna possível
03:44
when a lady wasp lays her eggs
inside a flower,
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quando uma vespa põe os ovos
dentro de uma flor,
03:49
dies and decomposes,
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morre e se decompõe,
03:52
the fruit, evidence of her transformation.
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a fruta, evidência da transformação dela.
03:55
Sometimes, the poem is so bright,
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Às vezes, o poema é tão brilhante
03:59
your silly language will not stick to it.
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que sua linguagem boba
não vai se ater a ele.
04:02
Sometimes, the poem is so true,
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Às vezes, o poema é tão verdadeiro
04:06
nobody will believe you.
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que ninguém acreditará em você.
04:08
I am a bird
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Sou um pássaro
04:11
made of birds.
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feito de pássaros.
04:13
This blue heart a house
you can stand up inside of.
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Este coração azul, uma casa
na qual você pode ficar de pé.
04:17
I am dying
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Estou morrendo
04:20
here
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aqui
04:21
inside this flower.
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dentro desta flor.
04:26
It is OK.
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Está tudo bem.
04:27
It is what I was put here to do.
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É para isso que fui colocada aqui.
04:30
Take this fruit.
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Pegue esta fruta.
04:33
It is what I have to offer.
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É o que tenho para oferecer.
04:36
It may not be first,
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Pode não ser a primeira,
04:38
or ever best,
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ou a melhor,
04:40
but it is the only way to be sure
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mas é a única maneira de ter certeza
04:43
that I lived at all.
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de que vivi.
04:46
(Applause)
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(Aplausos) (Vivas)
Translated by Maurício Kakuei Tanaka
Reviewed by Mario Gioto

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Kay - Poet
A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool.

Why you should listen

Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Not only did Sarah Kay do that -- she also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off.

Sarah holds a Masters degree in the art of teaching from Brown University and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Grinnell College. Her first book, B, was ranked the number one poetry book on Amazon.com. Her second book, No Matter the Wreckage, is available from Write Bloody Publishing.

Sarah also founded Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool. Project VOICE runs performances and workshops to encourage people to engage in creative self-expression in schools and communities around the world.

More profile about the speaker
Sarah Kay | Speaker | TED.com