Sharing with friends my poem ‘Fallen into Oblivion’, just published in the Literary Review ‘Well Read’, its November 2024 issue. Many thanks to the dear editor Many Haynes.
https://issuu.com/wellreadmagazine/docs/november_2024_magazine/s/60145107
Human Generations
Walks
I have always lived with my brothers of race,
every day, night, month, and seasons of the year,
with words, hugs, slaps, and kisses.
The diversity I have encountered has been so great,
in true, among them, I have improved my qualities,
but, with some, have needed to sharpen my claws,
sometimes necessary in self-defense, threatening
and dangerous as they have become.
I have wet the road with tears and sweat,
have always looked to the horizon with joy
and fearlessness, sometimes with doubt and distrust.
I have fought the good fight, and, coherent to the human
that lives within me, have reaped victories and defeats,
without rancor or hatred, have lived and let live.
May this walk be a preview of a future one,
that lies before me,
which faces me as an incognito.
However, the greatest of all incognito is what
we are living with since we are born into this world,
to which, as far as I know, have had no warning
or prior preparation, even any consent.
We are, in truth, nothing more than a tribe or nation,
launched into the adventure of a universe under construction,
not more than a part, nor even its main one.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
Sharing a new publication of mine
Sharing with friends the publication of my poem ‘Hidden into Oblivion’ in the Munia Edition, October 2024 of the Indian Literary Review ‘The Wise Owl’. Many thanks to the dear editor Dr Rachne Singh.
Return to the Origins
You know, or, at least, you should know,
that we are all related,
without any exception.
On that sixth day of the week of Divine Creation,
in a land named Paradise, we were all made
by the same mold, same measurements, same shape.
Man was created in the first stage, and after,
like a bonus, God gave birth to the woman,
companion, lover, wife, and mother,
the first joint venture, never before
even imagined or dreamed.
Then, we have become equal to our Lord,
and have, for countless years, given life and breath
to our families, beloved sons and daughters.
Equaled by race and common parentage, may we struggle
to honor what had been granted to us, raising our genesis
with so great a love, which will lead us, without any delay,
to that Holy Land, by history and right, our first home.
(Published in West Ward Quarterly, Summer 2025 printed issue)
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
Strange Duality
We come into this world without any major options,
chained, since birth, or rather, since our conception,
to the inheritance brought, in fact, imposed, by our ancestors,
those of our family, in addition to those of the larger family,
the entire humanity to which we belong.
Qualities and defects, virtues and vices, they arrive
combined in the genes of the new being, and, stealthy,
they wait to manifest themselves in due time.
Our parents, in the joy and happiness of creating a new life,
are not aware of the dangers that lie on standby;
we know they will do everything to separate the wheat
from the chaff, in the future life that is beginning,
a game whose success, unfortunately, we cannot predict.
Our struggle to build a personality, despite such inheritance,
is arduous and relentless, and none of us can escape it,
we have to polish and perfect this new being and pass it on
to a future generation, much better than we had received.
Let us strive not to fall into banality, but to play the right game.
May the improvement and purity we acquire not be that
of the physical body, which corrupts and decays, but of the spirit,
which, free and sovereign, under the right and reckless command,
has no limit and never ends.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
Other Worlds
Sometimes world conspires against me,
but people ignore that my path,
It has already been marked,
in all its twists and turns,
and in its different times,
with the sign of victory and success,
over everyone and everything.
Those who have been foreseen to engage with me,
they arrived coated with that fraternal communion,
which incites forgiveness and understanding,
and precedes the blossoming of love, flame
that ignites and warms all human coexistence.
Destinies that intersect and do not wear out,
and, instead, strengthen each other, just like
so many I have encountered, build joy and happiness,
that radiate and reach, far beyond us, other worlds,
which will be coveting and envying us,
without us even knowing it.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
To Whom it may concern
Sometimes I think that, suddenly,
some ghost from my past will resurrect
and appear to torment me.
Who knows, maybe someone will forget he is dead
and will miss the time when he lived.
If that happens, he will get a terrible fright,
because I am no longer that shy, innocent,
and malleable being, which he was accustomed to.
I dare not say that life has hardened my heart,
it remains affectionate and kind,
has kept its whims and desires,
a heart of flesh, as Our Lord commands.
However, has learned how to avoid
those who disguise and hide their true selves,
indifferent to love, compassion, and empathy,
therefore, unfit for human coexistence.
If they appear, will see, above all,
that are not part of my memories,
because I belong, entirely and well adjusted,
to a new world, where they will have
no shelter, or even will be recognized.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
On Speaking of Life’s Journey
I know that wherever I have been,
cities, streets, squares, and corners,
people, days, weeks and years,
troubled seas and faraway lands,
strange beings, friends, and enemies,
casual acquaintances and, mainly,
those I have loved and hated,
I have left not only happy memories,
but also, and in great numbers,
serious inconsistencies, gross errors,
disagreements, doubts, and misunderstandings.
But I am aware that the Supreme Being,
who created everything, including me, has supplied,
since my first day, a Guardian Angel, to protect
and guide around me.
I am also aware, that, today, so long time passed, He,
the Creator, is pinning on the chest of this said Angel,
a Medal of Honor, that has been awarded to so few.
It is granted for services rendered with bravery
and courage, for having led me to this date,
unharmed, healthy, respected, even forgiven,
along with fellow ones I have had to confront,
on this day-to-day of our mutual painful journey.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
Reblogging the publication of five poems of mine at the Literary Journal ‘Fevers of the Mind’, on July 14th 2024
Paths to Follow
I know I am heading towards the unknown,
but, as my equals,
we have no choice.
We must to accept the fact that this world,
just like the destiny mapped out for our lives,
have been made independently of our will,
our desire, much less of supposed intelligence
should we even have had.
The successes we have achieved on the challenges
throughout our time, have been at a much high level
to our strengths and talents, and, in fact,
we do not know as we have managed to go so far.
In this present time, when we look back, we witness
how hard and painful the journey has been.
Also, we see the immensity of what remains to be accomplished,
for the will and desire we propose continues to challenge us,
and we must to prove, yet and already, with so great a delay,
that we did not just come for pleasure.
We have to carry out the project always dreamed of
by brothers with upright, loving and fraternal hearts,
of that promised land, where flows abundant milk
and honey, and from where evil will be expelled,
defeated, ashamed and humiliated, banished
forever from human society.
This poem and all others at this blog, authored by Edilson Afonso Ferreira ©
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