Category: Poetry Publisher: Lit Pot Press, Inc.
ISBN-10: strokingcastrosbeard
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 50
Copyright: April 8, 2004
Available now from Lit Pot Press, Inc.
Saddlestitch paperback, 50 pages
"Patricia Gomes captures the world with a lyrical and wry sensibility. Her poems take you from laughter to tears with the turn of a page." - Editor Beverly Jackson
Excerpt Limiting Possibility
He had me
the second he leaned across the table,
peered over his wire rims
directly
into my soul and said
in feigned seriousness, "I, too, worshiped at the Shrine
of David Bowie."
Ah, here's a man who understands,
but
can I afford
to lose myself once more
to blue eyes and summer skin,
stubbled cheeks that trap the heat,
and calloused hands that conceal
the heart
of Neruda?
He had that look
I've come to recognize,
the one you get after forty: Hope.
I'm no stranger to that expression;
it stares back from the bathroom mirror,
cautions me against pain.
Should I try/Do I dare/Do I have the stamina
to walk that road again?
So we
talked/flirted/laughed/reminisced—and parted.
We pulled back
knowing that Hope,
with its heart-pounding potential,
is infinitely more satisfying
than
jumping
in with both feet.
Professional Reviews
Featured Author
Divided into three sections, Stroking Castro’s Beard and Other Poems by Patricia Gomes invades your subconscious and takes up residence, rising to the surface of your mind when you least expect it. I flash on the words whenever I have a moment to myself, usually right before going to bed. Reading these poems aloud alone at night allowed for the biggest impact. Even though she seems to be internalizing in Cyclic Depression and I’m All Out of Staples and Ebenezer Walked with a Limp and externalizing in Brushing Jillian’s Hair and Yielding Fruit (For Nealey), upon further inspection you realize it is all about the internal. Ms. Gomes provides you not only with visuals created with her eyes, but more importantly, the ones created with her soul. As with any good poet, Ms. Gomes’ words stain your memory.
