713.
Prayer to Mary:
Our Lady in Portugal
Hail Mary, patron of certain places
You are our Mother, our Queen, our Patroness
The Our Lady of Fatima – Our Lady in Portugal, Europa
Bless this place & its people, oh Santa Maria
Take care of Portugal, our beloved Mother
By God's will, be its nurturer now & hereafter
Look after Portugal, our respected Queen
By God's power, be its protector against darkness & sin.
Amen.
-10/13/2019
(Dumarao)
*Prayers to Mary as the Our Lady of Special Places
In Spain they call it Flamenco
In Portugal it's Fado
It's simple life yet so complex
Heavy but light
Dark but so bright
One can step into a basement or a theatre so large
One can feel overjoyed or supremely depressed
These extremes of emotions are life itself
But perhaps there is that balance when you sit and watch and listen
The click clacking of shoes
The desperate strums of strings
The rhythmic slapping on the cajon
The moans of lost romance
Sip your coffee or Porto vino, or Sangria if you wish
Lose yourself in Iberian folk music
And decide how you want to spend your horas in the dancing abyss
Restless is Portugal
There is mayhem in Paradise
the citizens of Lisbon are tired of the bother
and street fighting, where knives are used by
migrants
Gang fights, robbery, and shop theft is a daily
Matter, the police work double shifts
Most of the incomers are from Pakistan and
Bangladesh, where Portugal once had a colony
The democratic socialists ask for calm
It was under their rules letting in people who
Have no work, congregate in the streets
harassing passers-by
A problem caused when a country takes in
too many migrants that can’t be absorbed
into the population
it is not helpful when migrants
Are Islam followers demanding the right
to practice their Islamic faith
Portugal is a staunchly catholic country
her people are angry at migrants and politicians
Alike, those who sleep need to wake up before
It is too late to find a peaceful solution
The Jews in Lisbon marched also intimating
the knew a thing or two two
wishing the demonstrators peace and prosperity
A small population, familiar situation a testbed with
Health terror
A reason? the motive of jeering part of instigation.?
No to disscussion 'from the ( eu ) this all comes.' as to
The highest death rate per capita, it appears this nation
Succumbs.?
What a timeless charm Lisbon is
Meticulously set on the face
Of seven hills with eyes
That overlook the Tagus River.
The narrow, winding streets
Tell a story of a culture so distinct
Different in many ways but hung on a single straw
Like the pieces of every cobblestone on the floor.
The sweet sea wind, in every swing
Breathes life into Fado music
Songs of old, worn sailors
Longing for a halt to the complexities of life.
Lisbon City is indeed a charm
Adorned with vibrant street art
That blends modernity and historic depth
A solemn dance to every footstep.
Why do these guys quit before seventy?
After achievements Life on Earth empty!
There was to be a Macgregor Laird:
Before sixty-one years to rest laid...
For my avid interest in History,
I could not but alight on his story
With its private message from Greatness
"No, Mystery, no Magic: Eagerness!"
What had he shrewdly done: John Beecroft?
In their Britain left behind a voice soft
To in far-off lands hold her goals aloft
While him Portugal, Spain and, sure, France scoffed;
In West Africa's Fernando Po
Seeing that The Non British did lines toe:
In Nigeria's captured Bight of Benin
Ensuring that his men got their Quinine;
I reckon in the close Bight of Biafra
Giving out British bags not of raffia!
I could have for John Beecroft my hat doffed,
Just that when I last tried a patriot coughed.
Please see Gulf of Cadiz
Praia da Rocha Beach
Tour port cellars and bridges
hop-on hop-off buses make travel easy
take oh my cod food tour with Ricardo in Lisbon
Glorious Spain after 1492, and the cost
Long forgotten, but for Bartolomeo de Las Casas
O the lie of OUR WORK ETHIC! How did Catholic Iberia
Rule the Americas (1492 -1898), dominate Europe?
You can rule, too, if you enslaved all of the Americas!
When I was in Portugal,
I fell in love,
When I was in Spain,
I felt that love all over again.
Miraculous,
Charming,
Unbelievable!
Where was all this love hidden
For so long!
I was desperate, I was crazy!
All in my mind was one thought,
I love you,
I love you with everything -
My joy, My happiness,
My sorrow, My sadness,
Everything is true,
Only with you!
Time lasts long in Portugal
Got up early had a shower and close shave
Put a white shirt on, bank people like it when
Their clients look prosperous.
My bank is in a nearby town I followed
The coast road has fewer cars a strict speed
The limit is vigorously enforced.
The bank was closed.
A man told me banks are shut on Sundays.
Costa, Nacho goals
first World Cup VAR decision-
Ronaldo hat trick
Copyright © 2018 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.
Published 2018 in "2018 World Cup Senryu" via wattpad.com
Portugal on my Mind
The nature so lush I felt like a horse I had to feel my eyes
With beauty and scent
left the asphalted road and walked on a track
till I was consumed by bushes and the sound of the growing
sat on a stone wall took pictures and two hours had gone
and I fell asleep as the sun was setting.
I didn’t hear the mobile ring but woke up when a big dog barked
a black woman came down the track she was worried
If I were ill wanted she could drive me home
I have walked this track for 330 years. She laughed but insisted
I drink some cold water at her house; the water came from a deep well
why do they not make wine that good?
The dog, a pointer, followed me to the asphalt road; its job was done,
the phone rang again my wife wanted to know where I had been
while she was out visiting friends, out walking darling just walking
Portugal is a place of dreams
It's natural landscapes covered in
green and yellow
Moderate tempertures all year long
Houses built of dark and light stone
Friendly people greeting you with Benvindos!
Making foreigners feel right at home.
The food alone is worth the trip,
with the freshest sea food
sweet bread, and the finest wines.
Folklore, Carnival, Parades!
One can forget their troubles
in the enchanting beach resorts,
azure waters of the sea, and the silky sands.
It is a place known for the Lusitania horses,
Christopher Columbus's homeland.
Bullfights of the Terceira island
villages with Farmers, Fisherman, Craftsmen.
I am proud it is my families culture.
Portugal
On the tree lined avenue in Loulé leaves are beginning
to fall, still green even if a bit paler than normal.
It is afternoon and September, but still hot. Sparrows
are flying in from the inland it is safer in the town then
in the upland where sharp eyed hawks prey on them.
I have been told that in Italy they catch the birds with
big nets, and eat them. Plucked, one cannot be much of
a meal one has to eat at last ten to be full.
Mao, in China, tried to remove sparrows because they
were eating too much crops, an act of utter futility,
but then people with total power go stark raving mad.
I enjoy this moment of subdued day light the ills of
the world is far away. I know of a county called Portugal
I came here and learned to live again.
The Unseen Portugal
There are many poor people in Portugal, thousands
of people need on food banks to survive.
Some schools keep open even when closed only so
children can get a warm meal a day.
There is great austerity in Portugal hidden away in
corners the tourist industry never reaches.
The poor live on rice- if they can afford gas to cook it-
but mostly they eat canned food and corn flakes.
Many Portuguese live in houses without sanitation, in
narrow streets many visitors will call picturesque.
Yet on TV cookery programs are running wild, where
chefs show viewers how to cook the best cut of meat.
They tell you about the rich healthy food and where
to buy those appetizing dishes and great wines.
These programs are a display of opulence, a travesty
of reality when there is so much hunger in the land of
historic cities, sunny summers and sandy beaches.
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