Brazilian Tears and Other Poems

If the function of poetry is to harmonize the sorrows of the world then Brazilian Tears and Other Poems reflects memories from distant lands: the poverty the struggles the aspirations the endless wars and the elusive hopes for a better world often beyond reach. <br>Never Again<br>When people tend to bend with the wind<br>They will often let go to be scattered<br>Like dry autumn leaves or a sly band<br>Of thieves to some far away spot<br>Where an unkind fate will just leave them to rot.<p>But how can a boy forget the furious<br>Winds of the war or the soldiers<br>With their endless shouting their officious spouting<br>And their boots stomping on the floor<br>Until like the wind they were gone once more.<p>And what good are the weighty words of the wise<br>If they're just as fleeting as the wind<br>When the boy later that dreary night<br>To add to his plight found his mother<br>With the lifeless body of his only brother.<p>Yet the boy will never forget the fear<br>And the oppressive darkness outside<br>And the all-pervading stench of death<br>When he held this breath as he fled in turn<br>Convinced that he would never return.