New and have a question

[SummerLee]

I am new to this forum. I am looking for information on a poet named Julio Noboa Polanco. I know that he wrote the poem "Identity", but can't find any information about him. I am looking for when and where he lived, titles of his poems, and other interesting facts. Is he still alive? Anyone with any information or where I can get information on him would be great. Thanks.

[Janine]

Quite honestly, SummerLee, I can't find anything biographical on the guy either. You might want to go to your local library and ask a librarian for help - they are trained in researching these type things. Here is the poem you mention:

Identity
by Julio Noboa Polanco

Let them be as flowers,
always watered, fed, guarded, admired,
but harnessed to a pot of dirt.

I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed,
clinging on cliffs, like an eagle
wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.

To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky.
To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea,
carrying my soul, my seed,
beyond the mountains of time or into the abyss of the bizarre.

I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valley,
where they're praised, handled, and plucked
by greedy, human hands.

I'd rather smell of musty, green stench
than of sweet, fragrant lilac.
If I could stand alone, strong and free,
I'd rather be a tall, ugly weed.

And... SummerLee, welcome to the forum! Nice to see new members here.