the philosopher

The ambulance helicopter
landed on a field near the houses
and upset the mule who was
considering the philosophy of
Bernard Henry-Levy.
It had just reached the conclusion
The man was a featherweight
thinker, but looked good in his
a dark blue velvety suit.
When the clatter of the chopper
subsided, it wondered how many
doctor titles and universities do
A man needs to be careful before turning into an idiot.

The Hope

In a poem I read
Trees are so green
The avenue was full of green leaves
fallen to the ground
Curled up, pale brown and dry
blown by the cold wind
I can hear a whisper
We are still beautiful
Within us, there is knowledge
of a spring to come

A nation'rainbow

It rained and rained, fine rain but persistent 
mountains dissolved, and rocks turned into sand 
When the rain stopped, a smooth landscape 
of peace and camel dung
Before the deluge, people who had sinned were
****** to death since this was no longer
Possibly the sinner had to eat a kilo of carrots
until they turned orange and
were not invited to dinner
or supervised at the supermarket
The authorities thought this was a good idea and 
made a color program,
to better classify
left-wingers
and radicals, making them eat cabbage till they 
turned green and could not hide their socialism 
tendency and forbidden to enter posh restaurants
The government liked this so much that they decided to
Classify all classes, beetroots for the royals 
deep yellow for the middle class, and potato peel
for the working class and pink for artists
Alas, people fall in love across the color barrier
Their children looked like rainbows and were impossible to classify
Therefore, the government declared everyone's
equals, but instead build bigger prisons

When love strikes

Love or the emotion of infatuation 
is a disturbing feeling, making us
willing to risk humiliation
I have met and loved several women
In my life, but I have been in love once
That was when I was middle-aged 
but quite unaware of my years
She spoke English wonderfully
Was it her voice I loved or herself?
The wife I had was English, too
but didn't like to live in Portugal, Liverpool
the place where she thrived
We got divorced, which I didn't mind
thought I had found the love I needed
In the woman who spoke wonderfully
The beginning was a lovely time
I even met her posh mother
The abar was where she drank heavily, but
I sat about rescuing her
To save someone who doesn't want
To be saved is a waste of time
Behind my back, she began an affair
With a Dutch person, why is that
Race tall and wear unrimmed glasses
For a while, I took up drinking, which
I'm not good at it; it makes me confused
I tried to unlove her, but she is still
in my heart as a sweet memory that
Once upon a time, I was young

The Adventurer 

No, I tell you, Elon Musk, I will not
Go to Mars, it is dry, and has pink nights
and wind-blown days

Settlers will live in caves without 
dogs and cats to make life on Mars
livable without caresses

No, Musk, I refuse to go unless your
assurances the cave living will be
temporary and live will last forever

I have found a planet that is lefty
Where right is left and left is right
with a teddy bear for every child

The consolation 

It is fascinating to think
one day we will be dead
not know we ever lived
Years will pass in wars
and struggles for peace
meaningless contracts
signed by the powerful
We'll not know of spring
flowers and romance
But the consolation is
We shall not know that  
We ever lived

1974 and the Guardian newspaper


On a ship, where I was employed, docked
In Lisbon, a few days after the Carnation Revolution
The air was full of anticipation
I took a double-decker bus to the town center
A throng of cheerful people filled the narrow streets
At a paper stall, pornographic mags had moved in
getting the most out of newfound freedom
I ate Fesjoada tras montania (bean stew), drank
a bottle of Sagres beer, and later walked around
streets, but with so much noise, I bought
The Guardian newspaper, which I thought was
a harbinger of the truth
Back then, The Guardian was a fresh, brave paper,
These days, it is rather staid in the political line
pro-American, but it is still a better paper
than the Ghastly "Sun" and the Sunday papers
I still read that paper online, which has good art pages
But politically, we parted ways a long time ago