Poems That Help Me Feel Alive

POEMS THAT HELP ME FEEL ALIVE is Leide Moreira’s second book. Leide is a special kind of poet who constructs her poems through the movement of her eyeballs. The printed version of this book was released November 2008 in the Jornal Folha de São Paulo Auditorium with the author’s presence who, due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis attended lying on a gurney which was transported by an ICU ambulance and accompanying crew. Leide Moreira can move only her eyeballs and through them constructs moving and remarkable poetry. POEMS THAT HELP ME FEEL ALIVE contains 60 poems which Leide Moreira wrote with her eyeball movement and a Visual Chart handled by her aides. Her poems allow for her to reflect on life and represent a unique and pioneering manner in which to participate, exercise her citizenry and make a contribution to society and social inclusion. Besides the quality of the poems she constructs, Leide’s story coupled with her attitude in face of life represent extreme examples of overcoming one’s limitations, motivating and generating inspiration and has had a relevant social impact. As stated by congresswoman Mara Gabrilli “... independent of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, her poems are much more far-reaching, they are able to help people with problems as different as deafness to those with problems in their marriage.”

This is a work of love. Using only the movement of her eyeballs allied with aides or family members yielding a Visual Chart, Leide Moreira constructs remarkable and moving poems, introducing us to a universe full of contagious hope and emotion-filled reflections on life. This experience is an invitation to partake in life and that which is most humane in all of us. 60 poems written solely through the use of the eyeball and the help of a Visual Chart. Twenty of them have already been previously published in Leide Moreira’s first book LETTERS OF MY EMOTION, from 2006. The remaining – 40 as yet unpublished poems – represent the author’s production between the years of 2007 and 2008. The printed version of POEMS THAT HELP ME FEEL ALIVE was released in November 2008 at the Jornal Folha de São Paulo Auditorium with a public reading performed by actresses Fernanda D’Umbra and Christiane Couto, as well as the presence of the author herself who arrived on a gurney transported by an ICU ambulance. This digital version is exactly the same as the printed version. Delve into this universe and discover what it is that makes Leide feel alive.

Leide Moreira is a very special poet who writes remarkable verses with the movement of her eyes coupled with a Visual Chart and the help of nurses. As a consequence of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the neuromuscular system, Leide lost all body movement except for that of her eyeballs. Completely paralyzed, unable to talk, fed through a gastrostomy tube and breathing with the aid of an artificial lung, the use of the Visual Chart was found to be the only way in which she could communicate with others. Adapting her possibilities of expression to the use of this form of communication, Leide began to produce moving poems and discovered a singular and pioneering means of participating, practicing her citizenship, of contributing to society and social inclusion through her work. Building her poems letter by letter, she has already written three book: Letras da Minha Emoção (Letters of My Emotion), Poesias Para Me Sentir Viva (Poems That Help Me Feel Alive) and Não Espere De Mim Apenas Poesias (Don’t Expect Just Poetry From Me). Her work has caused a considerable amount of social repercussion, with awards, newsreels, magazine and newspaper articles and tributes as well as many of her poems being set to music by composers such as Nuno Mindelis, Elder Costa and Rafael Toledo. Leide is a lawyer, mother of three, grandmother with two grandchildren who loves and holds dear her quality of life.