Farewell
I'm tired of Portugal
this small country, not bigger
than a hamlet in Spain
their worldview is what
is seen from an Olive cops
small-minded
and deceitful, bewildering
where the Arabic influence
lingers
decapitated by Christianity
I have family in Spain
who read Cervantes
I don't know why
it could be they are working-class
they value me as an elder
in their clan
I even have a brother
I have never met
he lives in Chicago
the whisper is he is a gangster
The Portuguese is based on
avoiding the truth
at all cost
No matter how long you
live in this fantasy land
they will treat
a foreigner with hidden contempt
Yes, it is time to leave
this country of sheepherders
and lawyers
where the people still hanker
for the days
of dictatorship
Categories:
sheepherders, anti bullying, betrayal, courage,
Form: Blank verse
Olive copse
Sitting indoors being old and are forbidden
to go outside, I dream of lazier days
then in the heat of summer, I had siesta under
a 500 years olive tree.
I was dreaming of the shepherds who slept under
this tree and the only sound was grazing sheep and the occasional barks of a dog.
I can smell the cheese he ate and the wine he drank
before they drifted into a slumber.
The sheepherders got old and died but the tree grows
bigger and bore fruit.
There was poverty here and a new generation wanted
a better life, they went to America to find gold
and get married to Amanda.
Alas, factories paid well, they married no Amanda, but
someone of hardier, hairdresser stuff.
I wonder if they ever dreamt of the old days when the sun was hot, sleeping under an olive tree.
Categories:
sheepherders, break up, deep, emotions,
Form: Blank verse