Brazilian Tears and Other Poems

If the function of poetry is to harmonize the sorrows of the world, then, Brazilian Tears and Other Poems reflects memories from distant lands: the poverty, the struggles, the aspirations, the endless wars, and the elusive hopes for a better world, often beyond reach.

Never Again

When people tend to bend with the wind,

They will often let go to be scattered

Like dry autumn leaves or a sly band

Of thieves to some far away spot

Where an unkind fate will just leave them to rot.

But how can a boy forget the furious

Winds of the war, or the soldiers

With their endless shouting, their officious spouting,

And their boots stomping on the floor

Until, like the wind, they were gone once more.

And what good are the weighty words of the wise

If they're just as fleeting as the wind,

When the boy, later that dreary night,

To add to his plight, found his mother

With the lifeless body of his only brother.

Yet the boy will never forget the fear

And the oppressive darkness outside,

And the all-pervading stench of death

When he held this breath as he fled in turn,

Convinced that he would never return.