The time has come to provide a solution to the puzzle (for those who remain stumped) and to announce a winner (for those who've been kept waiting for so long). I apologize for not posting this in as timely manner as I would've liked...sometimes life interferes with even the best laid plans.

For the solution, it was necessary to start with the poetical section and discover that which was missing. If you looked at it long enough, you might have discovered that every letter of the alphabet was used at least once except for the letter "A". This was the thing that was missing.
Then, as per the lines that read:
"Zero in its number here,
Look to words before this text
Where here be none..there every fourth
Word with should give your clue next
Quickly then…just four, eight, twelve,
Continue to the end…"
participants were to go to the first part of the forum message (before the poem) and look at "every fourth word with" the letter "A". In so doing the participant's would find the following message:
"Answers necessarily contain an author's name and name's anagram, a palindromic 'palavra', and a quotation."
From there it was just a matter of following the directions.

Congratulations go out to all those of you who completed the puzzle correctly (the names of whom are somewhat familiar to me at this point)...eligible responses were received from (in order of so doing):
peter
Mary H
Maverick62
dichroic
AlineM

Employing the ultra-random and infallibly objective method of getting my son to draw one of five face-down cards (numbered in order of response), the winner of the contest is ... peter! To this veritable rock of puzzledom, I will be sending forthwith a total of 14 points to do with as he pleases. I will also await with breathe abated (not literally as I enjoy living) the naming of the charity which he has chosen to gift with the other 7 points.
Again I thank Mary H for co-sponsoring this puzzle and thank everyone who participated for their time and attention...(malevolent grin unfolds) the next one won't be so easy! (sinister echoing laugh fadeds slowly away)

I tried to find a solid charity to receive the 7 points...quite a few charities seem to be inactive. However, this charity (blackbird books kosovo) in Kosovo seems to be quite active so I opted for them.

Thanks also to our corporate sponsor, Mary H.

"I stole it from T.S. Eliot" - wonderful anagram, AlineM!

Let's all meet up again in the next big contest.