I'M COMING HOME

"Legend has it that D. Sebastian, King of Portugal and the Algarves in the 16th. Century, killed in battle in Morocco when he was only 19, will come out of the fog and return to rule Portugal in its darkest hour. This legend is, of course, deeply rooted in the 'wandering' Portuguese, who can be found in all parts of the world but, as a true 'saudosista', longs to return home. The poem below builds on an approximation of the popular Portuguese rhyme, typical of the 'cancioneiros', and plays a bit with the equally typical love theme often found in such poetry."


MY KING

'Twas never meant for us to be...

I'm going home to watch the sea
And let the seagulls strip away
The grief of words I dared not say.

Time heals all wounds when one is far
And, soon enough, only a scar
Will line the vastness of my heart.

It's best for all that I depart.

These streets I walk are not my streets;
This air I breathe is not my air;
Of what I were there are but bits,
With different versions of despair.

I'm going home to watch the sea
And dream the dream that lies ahead,
That generations before me
Have tumbled, hopeful, in their head.

My king, my king, I too will roam
And hail the sharpness of your sword.
Perhaps the power of my word
Will cut through fog and bring us home.

It wasn't you, it wasn't me...
It was the longing for the throne
Of dreams and fog in the far sea...
- MY king, my king, I'm coming home...

Jose Valduar