Promise of the Rainbow Through My Tears

By Richard Claude Valdez

Promise of the Rainbow Through My Tears is a collection of romantic, lyrical and metaphysical poems, together with songs and ballads. The themes are a roving vagabond's stroll amongst images, scenes and telling experiences. Some reflect profound memories-pleasant and unpleasant-seen through the eyes of childhood and adolescence. Some are filled with a young man's romance and ripe with rhyme and imagery. While others are introspective and searching an old man's coming to grips with his mortality.

Above all, these poems tell the story of life's journey; from the cradle, along the dream of life, to the grave and beyond.

The poems themselves are not divided into any particular order or theme; they roam much like the authors experiences and gather their own rhythm as their theme dictates. Although the poetic style of rhyme is not popular in modern poetry,much can be found throughout this collection, which accents the author's nonconventional approach to his work.

What is evident though, is the varied themes reflected in this volume, which suggests that any reader will find some poem or line that would draw on his or her personal experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jun 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781426963599

Richard Claude Valdez

Richard Claude Valdez was born in Trinidad and studied at Our Lady of Fatima College, the University of Toronto, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. A classical vocalist and composer, Richard has performed throughout the world. He currently resides in Toronto. East of Goodbye is his third volume of poetry.

Book preview

Promise of the Rainbow Through My Tears

Richard Claude Valdez

Aperture

Poems

Richard Claude Valdez

Published, 2009 by Trafford

Aperture is a collection of poems drawn from life experiences and reflected through the emotional lens of love, joy, pain, disappointment, anguish, loneliness and exhilaration.

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© Copyright 2011 Richard Claude Valdez.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America.

isbn: 978-1-4269-6358-2 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4269-6359-9 (e)

Trafford rev. 06/17/2011

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North America & International

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

phone: [phone] fax: [phone]

To my Siblings

Acknowledgement

Cover photos by Sylvie Beauchesne

Interior photos by Richard Claude Valdez

Contents

A Song to My Father

After the Performance

As A Lad

Autumn Dance

Before He Takes Us Under

Burnt Toast

Call to a Boy

Cardinal Cardinalis

Chaud’eau

December 1998

Do Not Admire Me!

Drunk at the Pub

First Light

Footsteps

From My Bedroom Window

Her First Death

I Hear the Sounds of Children’s Laughter

I wait

If When

If!

If Only

It Is Over.

Just Before the Rains Came

Lost

MacKenzie

May

Memory

Morning Coffee

My Brothers Young

My Wish

Native Man

Now

Old Age

On Visiting an Old Relative

On Your Birthday

Owl

Prayer

Promise of the Rainbow Through My Tears

She

She Left but Her Space Remains

Simplicity

Smile

So Much

Something Sweet and Charming

Stopping at the American Cemetery

Swimmer

The End of Things

The Last Rose in Her Garden

The Month of May

The Old Hindu Man

The Quarrel

The Willow Under My

Window Bids Me Good Night

There is an Unsettling in the Heavens

There is still so much to see

Time to Go

To John

Tomorrow

Truant Boy

Watching a Woman Walk By

When Darkness Falls!

When It Is Time to Leave

Alphabetical List Of First Lines

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

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A Song to My Father

Unheralded!

He walked along his ways,

Quiet footsteps kept rhythm with his greying days.

Spoke ill of no one, laid claim to nothing,

Except his blessing-

Tolling as the bells on Sunday morning.

He turned a corner,

Changed a lane.

Moved in the sunlight,

Wept in the rain.

He bowed to the green hills,

Marched onto the plain.

Swung his shoulders westward,

Ever homeward again.

Unheralded!

He strode along his quiet path.

His thoughtful countenance harboured no wrath.

He spawned no fight, stoked no quarrel,

But wrestled with his thoughts,

Moving with the breezes on the hill.

He sat in silence

Upright in his chair,

His eyes towards heaven,

Many burdens to bear.

His lips moved in quiet

As he mumbled a prayer,

Then raised himself up

To attend to our care.

Unheralded!

Unarmed!

A soldier on guard,

As we children ran