I walked
through the naked streets,
the city slept
and the dawn lulled it to slumber.
From one side,
the sound of
the river’s waters,
flowing off its monotony to the sea,
and that murky
water reflected the moonlight on my tired face.
Crossing the
bridge,
the tap dance
of my paces were out of sync from the current’s tune.
A truck
passed,
followed by another one,
and again the silence accompanied me.
and again the silence accompanied me.
Walked and not
yet exhausted,
despite what I
still had to complete going back home.
One pace,
another one,
and on the
streets of my neighborhood the silence was even deeper,
all the houses
were asleep with their roofs dreaming to the night.
Sometimes a
dog barked,
and there,
instantaneously
another one howled to the moon,
and in
this fashion,
the canine
orchestra was formed;
a cat jumped
upon a wall,
and his meow clashed the
concert.
These were my
tiny companions,
in a
smaller night still.
Now my paces
seemed to be inside a vortex of vague thoughts;
I walked
inside my own imagination,
my brain spanned.
Then I sat on
my bunk also small,
I could see
the branches from the avocado tree through my window,
they appeared
as if somewhat trying to relay a message
that I could not understand;
just like in
life itself,
we can’t
understand its minor refrain,
the
simplest verse,
because we are
always hectic complicating everything else…
My hound
friend barked,
and that
sounded sincere and familiar,
because by
barking again she told me I was not alone.SLEEPING.
My tired body now rested upon my cot,
my thoughts finally slept,
my thoughts finally slept,
and I roved just
inside of a deep slumber
normal and natural
of all my nights.
09/12/83 Rio