A Puddle of Tears by Barbara Paleczny
The Quid Es
The Quid Es is the name of a contiguous selection of fourteen poems that supplement The Tale of Indigo. In the text, quid es is defined as follows:
Quid Es
What you are . . . What makes you, you.
The thisness of a person or animal.
Wondering where or how my interest in the quid es originated? Here is a little background.
I pulled the “Glossary of the Quid Es” out of a draft novel-in-progress that will be the third in the Ardis series, if all goes according to plan.
Set in Paraguay, the backstory of this novel-in-progress is Paraguay’s 1860s tragic war with Brazil and Argentina.
Count d’Eu of Brazil, who led the final push to defeat Paraguay, was sadistic and cruel, by some accounts, and committed genocide on a grand scale.
Currently, the draft concludes with the fighting words of Paraguayan President Solano Lopez, celebrating the quid es before he is slain.
Some old, some new
The Quid Es presents academic themes and styles that mimic British poetry of bygone centuries. I wrote some of these poems in the 1970s while studying English Literature.
In addition, The Quid Es contains a few “current” poems that I wrote in response to a challenge from my niece, Calla Kinglit.
The Tale of Indigo is available on Amazon in print
and ebook formats