Singer

The singer visited the city once the scent of rain sweat and blood scoured her entrails

In the house she roams from room to room pondering the fate that has befallen her

the walls swelter water rivulets

she breathes the movements restricted the clothing glued to every pore no respite

 

says

Our sister lives in a faraway city near a lake. She has learnt the language and she says she likes the crisp days of winter and the grey sky. She has sworn never to come back. Sometimes, we receive a postcard with all the buildings painted in black. We know it's her. Mother does not allow us to talk about her, Father looks away into the horizon. Her room is closed, only the maid goes in to clean the dust off.

Eight

eight months pregnant and no home to speak of. He thinks I have betrayed him. It was only an act of mercy: the poet needed company to stave off death, I laid down next to him. That is all. Now I am wandering the streets with this cargo. I am a ship with no port.

mud

The road, unsurmountable, twisted, breaks the car. Trapped in the rain and the mud, our sister prays for her future. She gets out of the car, walks towards the river.

We say goodbye

Night

The night is here I patrol the city, the lights beckon. I travel at the speed of light a riverblood coast the surface. I ride the sky, nobody can touch me. I am standing at the end, someone is coming, they ask how much it is, I look through him. I am, a soul lurking in the shadows, they go away, I clutter the space

 

There is nobody left, they embrace in silence , nobody breathes.

The river shimmers under the stars they are hidden behind the bushes they know she will come and sooth their pain the moon rises high above the sky the bats fly and the nocturnal stream litter the place with its sounds nobody moves they wait the first rays appear she still not there they wait a little longer they will be back tomorrow

All right

We wanted to see her again. They said it was not possible, she was too busy always. We tried every week for forty years. Many times they threaten to jail us, but we kept on going. We just wanted to see her one more time and tell her that everything was going to be all right.