Four Decades
and a Poem
“Includes Sonnets, Haiku, Lentos and other contemporary forms.”
Lencio Rodrigues
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 1-800-839-8640
© 2011 Lencio Rodrigues. All rights resserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Published by AuthorHouse 12/14/2011
ISBN: 978-1-4670-5018-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4670-5017-3 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4670-5016-6 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011917772
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Indigo Lips -
A Poet’s Sonnet
Scents and Essence of the Seventies
The Immortality of Mother
Ode to the Golden Cosmos
Tributo ao Cosmos Dourado
Claudia
The Monster
Grandma’s Attic
Cucumber Thieves
Sugar
Our Fishermen
Missing
Tamarind Seeds and Sweet Potatoes
Iced Candies
Pauline
Summer Scent
of 70’s
Learning from
the best
Rosewater and a Fairytale
The Prince Lost his Crown
Jano’s Ballad
Early Lessons
The Big House
Face in the Ashes
Sighs of a Virgin ~ Shakespearean Sonnet
Variety
Of The
Eighties
Secrets
Food for Thought
Silence
The Millionaire (Monorhyme)
Notice Board
Tongue Twister
Unspoken Goodbyes
What Then?
Kites ~ Tanka a Suite
Hick! anazer zrink bleezz
Body, Mind and Soul
Ranjo Macaro
The Calling
Forlorn
The Rose
Another gate and Pomelos
When the Wandering
is Over
Watered Down
Take Him Home
Ready
The Peepal Leaf
What Dreams Could Come ~ For the Unborn Children
Kannel ~
The Lake of Renewal
Neighbors
Paper Boats
Cursing Sr. Joan
If God wasn’t good…
Embrace
Bloody Tears
Nature’s Palette
Opening Envelopes and Storytelling
Athletes’ Feet - Tanka
Let Flowers Die
Wind Songs
Vampire’s Reprisal
Dolly
That last Day in 1987
Nuances of the
Nineties
Sipping Significance
of Life
Discovering
Crystal
Children Come, Children Go
The Reflection
Forget the Umbrella
Empty
The Friday Mapusa Market
Toy Train (Rictameter)
Halfway Home
When Night Turns to Day and Vice Versa
Asylum
Is this sentence false?
Life’s Simple Code
Mysterious Stranger
Blissful Revenge
Paralyzed
Doubtful Shadow
Dj
Cherry Blossom
Accompanying
One Sided
A Mother’s Lament
The Strength of a Man
The Yellow Leaves of Autumn
Beyond the Horizon
Evaporating
Off Balance
An Ode to Myself
Love and Lust: A Perfect Spell
Lost Pages
Love has no appearance
A Life Still Beautiful
The Unsung Village Hero ~ For Dileep
Leaving No Spaces
The Builder
An Artist’s Portrait
Santa’s Mailroom
Pieces of Emotion
Retired Teachers
Running on Green (for those who use their feet)
Waiting to Reconnect
Two Sonnets on My Departing
Girl-child ~ Living is Harder Than Dying
Thoughts of the New Millennium
Life Goes On (Lento)
A Ride With Lady Godiva
The Masseur on Bank Street
Whispers of the tulips
Fortune Reading
Typical Tramp ~ Alliterisen
Morayshire ~
The High Dreamland
Tonight I Set Out at Sea
Lost
Appreciation
Half a Sonnet for Lucifer
My Fantasy
Barbara
Wine Fest!
Goa: The Silent Noise
The Overhead Bridge
The Invisible Overhead Bridge
Wedding Visuals ~
Alliterisen
That One Moment ~
For The Youth
Lebanese Restaurant
Spiraling Smoke ~ Alliterisen
Monday Lemonade
The Opposite Window
Pearl’s Dance ~ An Inverted Sonnet
Horn of Africa
Arabian Sunset
Come With the Wind and Dance ~ For Rouvier
Trolley Jam
The Truth About my Land (Double Rictameter)
Junk
Parking Officer on Nasr Square
Perfect Peace
Cities of the Century
Nights at Casbah
In The Mirror
Auntie Mary’s Heaven
Origami Wish
Driving, Driving Me Nuts!!!
Of Old Souq and the Press
Dubai Metro Line and September Nine Eternity
Pack of Cherries
Beneath Your Strange Silence (Monchielle)
Cacophonic Torture
The Other Laundryman
The Coupon - Seduction Versus Talent
The Legend of Our Time, Gone Too Soon
Early Morning Office
Lonely seagu
ll and a million fishes
The Sculpture
Ode to the Elevator
Chef Mommy
When the City Sleeps
The Face of God
Amateur
Mint and Honey
One Christmas at Farmville! (Zynga)
Unstitched Wear
Sketches and Splashes
Brainless in Transit!
Mother’s Visit
Until then…
The Top Floor
Time Changes Everything
War is Over…
Hailstones and Rain
Lasting Impressions
Woman
Self Portrait
I Learn
Open Wounds
Unknown
Unseen, Uninterrupted
Forgotten Endings
Stillborn Joy
Silent Auction
Bare necks cry for gold
Breaking News
Our Freedom
Denunciation ~ Lento
THE POEM
Glossary of terms
HOW TO WRITE A LENTO
A tribute to my grandmother, Mary Josephine Pinto.
Acknowledgements
My most precious family – you are in my heart, always.
St. Mary’s Church English Choir – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mario de Miranda for contributing his marvelous artwork.
- Loutolim, Salcette, Goa
Gerard da Cunha of Architecture Autonomous
- Torda, Salvador do Mundo, Bardez, Goa
Pearl D’silva, my three year old “cheer-girl”
Antônio Carlos Januário for the splendid rendition of “Ode to the Golden Cosmos”
- Pouso Alegre, Brazil.
Kevin Watt and everyone at All Poetry for their tremendous support.
Amanda Warren, Alyson Bell and Rudy Thomas of AuthorHouse, USA
All my friends in Goa and United Arab Emirates.
and lastly,
All the readers.
Preface
Today, one would certainly find it brow-raising to discover a deluge of young people into poetry – written and the spoken word. I am glad that the last two decades have given me the opportunity to meet these like-minded people, share thoughts and touch lives. I am truly grateful to my most exotic childhood and how it has influenced my life and my poetry today: the vast raw grounds strewn with crisp leaves that whimpered beneath our feet and fields that nurtured little frogs and mysteries sketched on farmers’ faces. It was here that my poetry began, traveling with me, with my lifestyle and places I have been and now dipping in the ink of this urban buzz.
In this shrinking cosmos and fast-paced e-world, despite the fact that people are slumped in their chairs in front of their computers, poetry still remains a thing of the time, and there is nothing more exhilarating than to capture moments and paint them in words just as how a music composer does with notes that are hammered inside his brain and then bringing them to the world outside it as a beautiful song, tethered by his inner-most feelings. It is but connectivity between the subject and the soul.
There is a hidden poet in each of us. Many of us feel things, and imagine things, and say things. Some simply scribble them in their diary, while others inclined, relate themselves to what’s been written by others and feel as though those words were theirs. Poetry to me is about sensibility whereby it affects both – the reader and its writer.
From tranquil-traumatic tales of the village to the flamboyance of the city, Four Decades and a Poem is a collection of my literary work showcasing the experiences of my life, my dreams and my thoughts. Here, you will find various behavioral aspects of people in time, the tones they live their lives and how it changes with modernization, affecting our life, our society. I thank all those who walked the journey on this road with me and have been a part of this tapestry – the four stunning decades.
Indigo Lips -
A Poet’s Sonnet
Her lubricity excites my impotent cells,
rejuvenates my passion one more time,
my thoughts kiss her, and she ~ her inkwell,
playing for me her most splendid rhyme.
Unfailing, her love, constant her laud,
whispering thoughts not so familiar,
leaving me intoxicated, thrilled, awed…
as my thoughts drink her indigo liqueur.
She speaks of daydreams and secrets,
of a life, place and time: unknown,
she sees through me, painting portraits,
sketching depths in happy or aching tone.
She writes my life as I hold her gently,
she’s the one I adore most: She is me…
Scents and Essence of the Seventies
The Immortality of Mother
I know of the One who created me,
The One we all talk about,
The Almighty, the intangible,
The One without creed, shape or visible beauty.
I know of the one who bore me,
She exists in the image of my God,
a woman I adore,
She is all mighty, tangible
with love written on her face,
love infinitely pouring from her heart,
synonym of love,
symbol of womanhood,
one I see in my mother’s divinity and grace.
I know of the one who creates peace,
the one in whom I find solace,
Like being in the womb of my mother,
where trees dance and brooks laugh with ease,
where the vast sea lets me drown my sorrow,
and tears dry when sun shines on me
Mother Earth, pregnant with billions of us.
I know of the one who gives all this naturally
and no open arms would make me feel
the same as hers,
no distance would keep me far from her,
for she is all around and within my heart…
She is my God: nature lives and gives freely, forever.
Ode to the Golden Cosmos
In pretty petals, bees played hide and seek,
brushing pollens with their wings,
swaying as wind kissed your cheek
of bright gold facing skyward
on stems like guitar strings.
Fidgety fingers frightening you
~ little boys knowing little of pain,
clouds turning grey from clear blue
and the wind blowing wayward
calling out to the rain…
calling to the rain to tear you down…
In golden days of school and fun
shirts of white waiting for a smack,
sleeping on our palm, we’d slap and run
leaving impressions of your face
on a mild unsuspecting back.
The impressions turned into memories
of days we’ll never see again
in our world of chaos and worries
no time and chance to play the games
though we sometimes seek, in vain…
Tributo ao Cosmos Dourado
Portuguese Version of Ode to the Golden Cosmos
(Translated by Antônio Carlos Januário)
Em pétalas bonitas, as abelhas brincando de esconde-esconde,
escovam os pólens, com suas asas,
balançadas com o vento que beija suas bochechas
de ouro luminosas bem de frente para o céu
em hastes, como cordas da guitarra.
Dedos inquietos ameaç
am
Os Meninos conhecem um pouco da dor,
nuvens de azul leve se tornam cinzas
e o vento que sopra rebelde
clama pela chuva …
ligando para a chuva para te derrubar …
Em dias de ouro de escola e diversão
as camisas brancas aguardam um beijo,
dormem nas palmas de nossas mãos, nos dão um tapa e fogem
deixando impressões do seu rosto
atrás, de forma leve e desavisada.
As impressões se transformaram em memórias
de dias que nunca verei de novo
em nosso mundo de caos e preocupações
nenhum momento e oportunidade de jogar os jogos
embora, por vezes, procuram, em vão …
Claudia
Claudia, my love, my song,
playing a million times like soothing raindrops,
the HMV gramophone record
turning like girls jiving all day long.
Your eyes are a sad melody
making me cry like your children, not then,
Other men, lost in storms
gazed your almond eyes differently.
Your beauty, flawless as the blooming lily
voice, soft and gentle.
Your song embraced me, until
I kissed the moon on mothers shoulder and another lullaby.
Claudia, we’ve both grown older,
but my love for you, has never.
The Monster
Bloody fights with life,
life fighting back,
your will has failed again.
six dry shots of Urak
is all you need to fix,
bring it down.
Then you are down.
Your breath and brain in balance
with your face,
seeing a monster with one arm.
He has no head,
wears a ring on his neck,
parading, pounding your skull,
joyfully grinding
your gelatinous stuff.
You whimper
like a horrid child,
begging not to kill you…
Turbulent hours later,
the monster’s gone
but the thumping goes on.
Dark moods return,
and so does the monster…
Tonight,
This might not be his last night,
Four Decades And A Poem Page 1