Dr. Maria Do Sameiro Barraso, Portugal (Winging through Gloom: Poetry of Hope and Recovery)

Maria Do Sameiro Barraso

Dr. Maria do Sameiro Barroso (Portugal) is a medical doctor. She is a much-awarded multilingual poet, translator, essayist and researcher in Portuguese and German Literature, translations studies and History of Medicine. She has authored over 40 books of poetry, published in Portugal, Brazil, Spain, France, Serbia, Turkey, Belgium, Albany, USA, and translations and books of essays. Her poems are represented in more than a hundred national and international magazines and anthologies, published in over thirty languages.

TREES AND STONES

Recovering from enmeshed pandemic 

times,

I go back to my flowing rivers, 

my bright skies, 

wondering about people's minds,

thinking about healing potions,

magical herbs, amulets 

and simple stones.

Because stones are also what the sun,

the wind and what the plants

bring to them,

Trees carry the tenderness of the birds, 

building their home on them.

Maybe the stones contain the essence 

of the universe 

and trees, the essence of life.

The candles of love also go 

through them,

when lit by the moon, 

caressed by the wind,

perfumed with flower scents,

and my heart wanders silently 

next to the waters.

---

Setu, March 2022