Featured Poet - Thiago M. Chaves
YELLOW
__Little bird, along the sky,
Stops gently for my eye,
You sing not to beautify,
But to be free from one who cries!
Out of tune, your lyric
I mimic,
yellowish,
through the late afterglow.
But my soul is hopeless
watching beauty,
while searching inside —
silently, though.
POEM XX
I learned that the stars I see now
May have been dead for a very long time.
And it is as though the light that once was theirs
Were the longing they hold for themselves,
For having once existed.
I wish I might feel no longing for myself.
May my light fade quickly like the flame of a lamp,
Which goes out when dawn arrives,
And life is lived normally thereafter.
MELANCHOLY
Dawn comes easy,
uneasy, my soul
claims its rest,
as if wanting to keep pleasing
last night's silence, yesterday's lingering,
as if still a friend
of the suffering yet to come.
Oh Lord of Inexistent Hope!
Perhaps a gentler afternoon will call
another manner
of mourning the day,
ever anticipating
tomorrow’s blame.
My mind still remains
awaiting its course,
Oh, winding force,
of a kind not yet known.
HIGH DREAMS
Rainy season’s gone,
scarlet birds paint the air,
some fly high
as the wind’s cry
turns blue
into marvelous skies.
What a shift — blossom dreams,
tracing names in the wild mind,
beyond all help,
it blows intensely,
yet numb and out of place,
drowning unaware — what a shame.
THE JUDGE
__Cheer up, get green!
Greener eyes have our Lord!
Beautiful face, golden hair,
Must you shine and breathe the air!
Words sound
like poison needles.
My soul is disallowed.
Oh winding force, blossom dreams!
Have I no ears,
see I no green.
__ Golden hair, breathe the air!
The world is tired of your despair!
HEARING VOICE
It’s a commandment, though
my body resists,
cut and blessed,
dressed in red – that purple metal –
and in letters to be kissed,
tearfully by those
who'll miss a fool
– they might say –
wasting life upon a desperate,
poor mind.
__God bless, God rest
that soulless matter.
ABOUT THE POEMS:
"These poems form a picture of my past manic-depressive experiences, and "Poem XX" is about a kind of disenchantment that took hold of me in their wake. It was originally published in my bilingual (Portuguese/English) collection 'Poemas do Caderno' (2026)."
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
"I want to thank my dear friend, Erika Edwards, for her tremendous help in reading, polishing, and discussing these poems with me, but especially for her kindness and encouragement. Every person who has met with this alien kind of darkness, which is the abnormal mind, should be given the opportunity to start over, and I thank my doctor, L.M., for helping me with that."
ABOUT THIAGO
Thiago was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022, shortly after going through a severe, years-long crisis that disrupted his life. He exchanged the countryside for the seaside, and now teaches philosophy on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Having recently self-published his debut bilingual (Portuguese/English) collection, Poemas do Caderno, he finds meaning in writing poetry and in exploring the pristine nature of the Parnaíba Delta, which he now calls home.
E: monteirochaves@gmail.com
