IGNIS FATUUS (FOGO FÁTUO), a poem by Sonja N. Bohm

Tell me I will never return—

that my hands will remain empty;

never more will I look upon the waters—

that my hope was in vain,

my joy an illusion...

Tell me I will never return.

Parede, Portugal

27 November 2019

Photo of a statue in the garden representing Portuguese poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at Parque dos Poetas in Oeiras, Portugal on 30 June 2019. Copyright © by Sonja N. Bohm

IGNIS FATUUS (FOGO FÁTUO) Copyright © 2021 by Sonja N. Bohm. All rights reserved. First published in Poemas do Jardim (Poems from the Garden): Bilingual Poems in Portuguese and English (2021). Image is computer generated.

HOPE, MY JOY (ESPERANÇA, A MINHA ALEGRIA), a poem by Sonja N. Bohm

With every breath

that lacked joy,

I gathered memories

like wildflowers,

and formed a wreath

to adorn my head.

Parede, Portugal

2 July 2019

Computer-generated image, 2025.

"Hope, My Joy" ("Esperança, a Minha Alegria") Copyright © 2021 by Sonja N. Bohm. All rights reserved. First published in Poemas do Jardim (Poems from the Garden): Bilingual Poems in Portuguese and English (2021).