History that follows

Mornings and afternoons, centuries and seasons,

they are always blowing the dust which settles

in my body, daily corrupting and weakening it.

Age weighs heavily, muscles become thinner,

thoughts flow slowly, hair thins and turns white,

I cannot hide or camouflage the marks  

of the passing years.    

But my spirit has been kept deep inside my soul,

and, quite the contrary, it strengthens, does not

break down, it rejuvenates and rises up.

And so, I am coming to the end of my times,

perhaps I can still represent a little 

of our long-suffering and beloved human race.

The one that fights and does not give up on continuing

to write their history of difficult struggles,

many setbacks, few but valuable achievements

and victories, what serve as an example

and encouragement to those who will come.

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©

Taken Away

Day is done, has finished its performance.

Stilly slides, hides its face from our world.

Has given us a time to be, weave our cloths.

Still carries some untold words and feelings

some of us had not been able to demonstrate.

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©

Souls in Communion

“On Rest from Work, also Siesta, Oil on canvas by Van Gogh, Jan 1890”

This consensual embrace, shown without hesitation to all of us

and to whole world,

has bequeathed us the dexterity and mastery of the consecrated

Dutch painter, what crowns all his works.

We see clearly that the characters are in communion

not only with themselves, but with everything around,

also with our Supreme Creator.

Their subtlety and affection, feelings

which cannot, or rather, so difficult are to simulate,

show that, in real life, after their rest,

they will not be able another face than warmth and love.    

We see a natural and deserved rest, after hard toil,

proven by the bundles of grass they cut

and give them shade.  

Dressed in blue, in combination with the sky covering them,

they just give us the certainty that, upon awakening,

will have strength and encouragement to continue

the work they are dedicated to.

It also shows the strength and ability of the painter,

who produced this work whist in a treatment,

perhaps the last,

in one of the many hospitals of his life.

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©

Along the Trails of Life

All the troubles I went through,

the bumps and collisions I faced,

the occasional, the unintended,

also, those I myself caused

by my own will.

All friendship I made and enjoyed,

that made lighter the burden of life,

all smiles, well remembered good times.  

Also, there were those whom once I thought friends,

and, in bitter, crucial and doubtful hour,

who dodged and joined enemies,

unfortunately, always on duty.

Love I gallantly declared,

and have been reciprocated,

passions I am proud of, which lit up my face,

body, soul and my entire being.

Likewise, there were affections

and desires of mine, left unrequited

or unwelcome, perhaps misunderstood.

For those, I leave no grudge or hurt,

susceptible they can be due to how extreme

our human diversity is.

As Tolstoy writes in Anna Karenina, “if there are

as many heads as there are ways of thinking,  

there are as many types of love as there are hearts”.

I have been going through and over this labyrinth,

and, today, I reach maturity in body and soul.

I leave behind affections and disaffections,

chants and disenchantments, all of this watered

by laughter and crying, sweat and tears.

Published in West Ward Quarterly, summer 2024 printed issue

Published in Fevers of the Mind, July 14 2024

http://www.feversofthemind.com

Published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Jan 24, 2025

http://www.lothlorienpoetryjournal.blogspot.com

 

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©

Talking to the Lord

Maybe because I prefer to be his pupil forever,

sometimes I don’t find myself having thoughts of my own

nor do I adventure to live in a new world,

different of this one you have always given us.

This is a world that enchants and leaves us comfortable,

and, with exceptions we always deplore,  

once we follow what we were taught,

we have had happy times,

bright dawns and superb afternoons.

Not that we are tired, dissatisfied or incredulous,

with the roadmap you have given us since long ago.  

Would it be ill-advised to ask you to touch the hearts

and minds of some of our fellow ones, those adverse

to the good coexistence and human fraternity?

Those who seem to take pleasure in transgressing

and circumventing the laws you and we have enacted?

You know they are always postponing and making unfeasible

the path we have tried to follow, which will lead us, one day,

to the land you promised, where flow abundantly honey

and milk, and evil never finds shelter.

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©

Recurring Dreams, left along the Way

We have passed through stumbles, pitfalls

and spells, almost daily,

which remain in the past, some of them

even into oblivion.

But really, we still do not know from where

and how, in its due time,

we have achieved strength to overcome

and to go ahead.

We know, or at least, believe,

that in our own power this could not be accomplished

without the contribution of a supernatural 

and transcendent Power

that we are not able to understand or qualify.

We got used to attributing these experiences  

to luck or fortuity, or even some

supposed but unknown merit of our own 

that we cannot firmly expect to continue.

This is the fate of us humans, fragile beings

who live in faith and hope of the expected miracle

which will lead us to the redemption of our race:

     The discovery of that once promised land,

      where milk and honey flow in abundance

      and evil never finds shelter.  

(Published in West Ward Quarterly, Fall 2024 issue)

This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©