Life of a Phrase (part 1) - Zé Limeira

In 1973, the journalist Orlando Tejo published Zé Limeira - O Poeta do Absurdo (“Zé Limeira - The Poet of the Absurd”) which included a poem which ended with these lines: “Morri no ano passado. Mais esse ano não morro.”

I died last year,
But this year I’m not dying.

This line of text, which has become an anti-Bolsonaro mantra, has gotten a lot of attention recently from a wide range of media for two main reasons: its current cultural impact and its source. On the former, as globo.com put it, “Whether because of the political instability lurking in the country since 2016 or because of the Covid-19 pandemic devastating the world, the phrase has become an anthem for a generation living through difficult times.” On the latter, many have argued strongly that not only were these words written by someone else (namely Otacílio Batista), but also that Zé Limeira never existed. It’s easy to understand why Limeira might be considered a purely folkloric creation: He left nothing in writing, was never photographed, and never had his voice recorded. He may not even have had a birth certificate. He was almost certainly illiterate. Nevertheless, after extensive research by a number of people, and as the same globo.com article clearly states: Zé Limeira existed and in all likelihood wrote these words.