September 2024
Does the world need another painting when so many have been done before. Does the world need another poem? When every human notion has already been captured in oil and ink, who needs another? And yet, every person holds within them a certain set of ideas and beliefs about life not yet expressed. No one yet has told this story of a drive down a winding side road in a small town in the Azores to see the whitewashed house of one’s grandparents now long gone and to see if there are any long-buried memories waiting to come to life. The hydrangeas still line the streets of town and the roses still send their sweet fragrance. The house of stone and concrete still stands in simplicity so much like it once did. The memorial plaque of Our Lady of Fatima with the kneeling children still rests above the door. For a moment all is as it once was, though the decades have made their mark. The souls that lived in that house have long passed on. Some chose to travel to places lying far beyond the horizon, beyond the expansive blue Azorean Sea to live a different life and speak a strange language in a world unimagined from that rocky shore. Some chose to stay and live their life upon the humble earth until the heavens called, that place where life can only be imagined and where words are no longer needed. Only a few still remain to tell the story of life as it once was. This is the story of one woman’s life. A poem untold until now.
The Streets of Varzea
Eight decades now I have wandered these streets of Varzea
I know every twist and turn as surely as I know the lines of my palm
Once I skipped on these cobbles with a sureness of foot
Now I wend my way with my walker in hand.
My steps slow and measured as my legs are feeble
But my mind is strong and my intentions more so
My only duty is to lift the spirits of those I meet
I have my stories of wisdom and my tales of the past
Remembrances of one who lived here in the house just by the church
And of another who lived there by that corner where the market stood
They have moved on now but their stories remain
As clear as the day they lived in that long ago life
My heart radiates at the pleasure of remembering
My hands are warmed by these thoughts
My hope is that you can feel as lovely as I do
The past is a miracle to be reckoned with
Especially when the mind chooses to remember only the best
My purpose today is to spread this love
My wish as I walk this street is to make someone smile
Until the mouth opens and the teeth shine
With the happiness that I brought to the day
Yesterday… you told your stories in a faraway land
Today… I am a million miles away it seems
Yet, I still feel the warm gentle touch of your hand
And your strong fingertips bringing home the thing most important
That a smile from the heart can melt away all concerns of the mind
