Pictures

These Pioneers sought to create
Paradise
Deep in a South American jungle

Built from the powerful communion
Of sweat, love, hope and dreams
Utopia came to life
If for only a few fleeting moments

Now as my eyes
Behold these images
I remember
They never wanted
To become a memory

May we hold them ever
In the piety of our souls
As we seek our own
Healing and redemption.

[Editor’s note: Teri Buford O’Shea wrote this poem in 2011. It was published posthumously in March 2022. Her collection of poetry on the site appears here.}