Lampiao in the Backlands

by José Costa Leite
Excerpted and translated by Mark Curran

In the backlands men lived
with a gun in their hands.
Only the valiant
proved to be right;
and the weak
could expect the worst of it.

Crime, robbery and death,
these are the laws that reigned.
The only talk was of bandits,
and no one could go up against them.
Bullets flew from one side,
and blood flowed from the other...

There were now 62 gunslingers
in Lampião’s gang,
the type that drink blood,
take on mountain lions,
never run from a fight,
and always see things to the end.

So Lampião in the backlands
roamed without any fear,
together with his beautiful woman
and his treacherous gang.
They all were good shots;
All were feared and respected...

Each bandit was
more valiant than the next;
Lampião and his gang
would go up against anybody.
They lived in the backlands,
bloodthirsty, fearing nobody...