TO

CLAUDIO'S

HIC FLORENT ARTES CELESTIS PAGINA REGNAT

I was born in Mauritius and my wife Louise on the neighbouring island of Rodrigues. I hold an M.A. degree in Modern Languages, Literature, & Moral Philosophy from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and a certificate of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation from the Council of Europe. I specialize in technical and literary translations in several European languages. I currently work as a private French, Italian & Spanish tutor. My wife is an executive Administrative Assistant. We share many common interests and devote our spare time to hiking and birdwatching. Our dream is to return to the enchanting isles of Greece, explore the western shores of Turkey and of course revisit Spain & Italy where beauty reigns supreme.

"Si tu es grand après avoir été petit, si tu es riche après avoir été pauvre, sache rester toujours simple. Parvenu au premier rang, n'endurcis pas ton coeur à cause de ton elevation, tu n'es devenu que l'intendant des biens de Dieu. Rappelle-toi que ton prochain est ton meilleur semblable, et sois pour lui un compagnon." ( SAGESSE DE PTAHHOTEP )(V^e Dynastie, 2563-2423 av. J.-C.)

POEMS:

Flos florum

Algues marines

Fatum

Choisy

L'Aigle de la folie

Réminiscences

Âme

POETRY

Poetry has been defined as "the artistic expression of the emotion caused by an intense realization of life". The poet, because of his lively imagination, sees and feels the immeasurable heights and depths of human experience. Poetry is a fine art, like painting or music but the poet's medium of expression is not paint, canvas or the music sheet but words. A good poet is he who knows how to use not only the meaning of words but all their qualities - the pitch and melody, shading and colour, their power to evoke images and awaken rich memories of past experiences. He must be skilful too in arranging his words into patterns which satisfy the eye and ear and which, by some magical means direct and control the ideas and feelings.

It is my firm belief that poems should not be kept under lock and key but shared with every one who is attracted to nature and its manifold beauties and mysteries. There is poetry in each and every one of us although some may not be aware of it. Poetry is to be found in every flower, in every sunrise and sunset, in the birds that sing so beautifully, in the storm-tossed clouds as well as in the deep blue sky. It is found in love and friendship, even in the leaves that die and fall from the trees in the autumn. A poem, I know, is as fleeting as time itself but when it touches us in the deepest recesses of our being, it makes us dream, it makes us cry, reminding us that it may yet be possible to be touched by the angel's wing and be made immortal.