Relaxing

The lady at the bench

            She was sitting on the same bench at the park, where I saw her every morning.  The way she was dressed that morning caught my attention.  She had a bright pink shirt, a floral skirt with all the colors of the rainbow (except pink) and a plaid jacket, all spic-and-span.  By the bench was a supermarket cart, filled with all kind of stuff.  I sat in another bench and fake I was reading the paper I just bought, to satisfy the curiosity that had grown from watching her every day sitting there. 

            Suddenly, out of the blue, the lady began to laugh out loud.  It seems so funny, that I began giggling myself.  I tried to figure out what she has seen that was so funny.  I imagined was something she remembered, because her eyes were fixed nowhere.  She took out the jacket, put it on the bench and invited someone to sit there before she began the conversation.  It was a casual conversation with a guy named Albert. 

            She took out, from a huge and awful bag, a mirror and a brush, and began to try to brush her hair.  It hasn’t been washed for a long time, and the clusters can be seen from far away.  After that, she went to the cart and took a hat.  It has been a beautiful hat, in the past.   Now it was a terrible mess, dirty and with a crushed orange flower on the side.

            People began to pass by.  Some hesitate to walk near the bench; others were so in their thoughts that even notice her.  One person recognized her.  “Hi Alice, how are you today?” “As always John, hanging in there”. They continue talking for a while, and I continue to listen to them. John was a College professor and they were talking about his classes.  “Did Professor Meadows still teaching Stephen Hawkings’ books like they were the Bible?”, Alice asked.  Both laugh.  Then she said: “I don’t agree with Hawkings…, At that moment I let the paper go and raised my eyes, just to see and hear what this strange lady has to said about one of the most brilliant minds of the world. “…when he affirmed Wittgenstein’s words, that the only work for philosophy in today’s word is language analysis. (1) I believe philosophy is far deeper than that, and we can, we must continue doing philosophy, because this World needs to find it roots and it meaning…” I couldn’t believe my ears. 

“Pass by the apartment, Helen will wash your cloths, as always.  You may wash yourself if you like…”

“I’m ok. Bethesda pool helps me with that.”

“You still there, under the bridge?”  She nodded.  “You know you may go with us when winter arrive…”

“Maybe I will.  I love this spot, I can see my penthouse from here.”

            John raised his sight to look at the fabulous penthouse of the fancy building on Fifth Avenue.  He nodded.  “I know loosing Albert was a terrible thing for you…”  There everything changed.  Alice goes mad.  She rose from the bench, pushed her friend and began to push the cart toward my bench.  As she passed by, I heard her saying: “Son-of-a-bitch.  Always believing that my Albert is death, when he’s here with me…What are you looking at?  Too many loonies in New York…”

            As she continue the path I looked back to see John still standing there, watching her go away.  Our eyes meet and a sad grimace, dressed as a smile, appeared in our faces.  Then he goes away.  As for me, it took me a while to decide to leave the park, after such awful revelation.

I found you

I found you

Seated on the abandonment beach

Crying for your beloved wife

Who was gone forever

Or was it you who found me

Seated on the river of solitude?

Waiting…expecting…

That one who never arrives

We found each other

In the time tunnel

at the right moment

we clash turning a corner

Why didn’t I know you when we were young?

‘Cause when you were seventeen

I was five…

Now we can’t notice the difference

We are so alike

Tastes, feelings, dreams

The most awkward ideas

Flow from our minds at the same time

Never thought it was going to be perfect

But it is

Even your annoying ways

Give balance to our boat

Now, here, at the couple’s beach

We watch the sunset

We laugh and dream

Knowing this was the right time

Total Delivery

Pero esta vez

That was the first thing you said

Ya no soporto la terrible soledad

Thirteen month alone…

That was a loooong depression

Yo no te pongo condición

Well, guy, that’s not nice

So open, with no rules?

Haras conmigo lo que quieras

What if I want to cut you into little pieces

And flush you down the toilet?

Bien o mal

That’s exactly what I meant!

Llévame, de ser posible

It can be arrange

Hasta la misma eternidad

To the infinite and beyond!

Donde perdure nuestro amor

Isn’t too soon to talk about love?

Porque tú eres toda mi felicidad

(Speechless)

Llévame si quieres

Where do you want to go?

The stars could be a nice place

Hasta el fondo del dolor

No way!! Being there, done that!

Hazlo como quieras

What are you, a masochist? 

Por maldad o por amor

Ok, every thing I do, I do it for love

Pero esta vez

This and all the others…

Quiero entregarme a ti

That sounds better…I want to be yours too

En una forma total

Excellent! I think we are getting somewhere

No con un beso nada mas

WOOOO! I like that! Kisses only…aren’t that fun

Quiero ser tuyo

Oh baby, me too

Sea por bien o sea por mal

There we go again…

Could you explain me the good/bad dichotomy?

Going Home

July 25, 2000

I was coming home after three years

The line was loooooooong

Los negritos de Oscar de León

Were there waiting to go to Spain from Rome

Are you serious?

Italians like Venezuelan salsa?

I changed lines several times

It doesn’t change the fact

I arrived last

“You are not in the list, miss”

What?

“You had to confirm your fly yesterday”

UMMMM?

And there I was

varada en Roma

With four suitcases

And to make it worst

The Concorde falls on earth

July 26, same year

I was arriving to the airport

And guess what?

It was closed!

WHAAAAATTTT????

The Pope was there

He’s going to Somewhere

Why Italy allows

Two other “countries” to be in it?

Is she a pregnant woman with odd twins?

La Repubblica di San Marino

And the Holy See

Hasn’t the Holy Roman Empire fallen yet?

Why is their leader blocking my airport today?

The Concorde, Oscar de León, and now the Pope

Am I ever going to arrive home?

Brown Race Mix

A Saturday at Plaza las Americas

Sited on a bench

Watching people pass by

Many colors, hairs and weights

White people with curly hair

Brown people with straight hair

White girls with a huge derriere

Black girls without one at all

Who made this recipe?

Many brown people

Every shade on the scale

Trigueños, morenos, prietos

Many names, with a lot of racism

Fair acceptance

And little understanding

I thought about my friend, Yenitza

A black chick

A perfect picture of Tembandumba de la Quimbamba

Another friend, Maria

The whitest girl I had ever seen

She has Yenitza’s body

They had a lot everywhere

Even their skin tone

One has too much, the other not at all

Me, a light brown skin

Straight brown hair

With an African tail…

Who made this recipe?

Los Millones

Very poor

But they call it Los Millones

Houses improved in time

But people’s minds don’t

Garbage everywhere

Many wood houses

Mine was in cement

The wolf couldn’t blow it away

Doña Laura, with her hair rolls

Y la bata…no se la quita

My great-grandmother

Smoking through the day

Eating white rice with her fingers

Arroz con deo

My aunt Juana

Listening to Gardel’s tangos

and Chuito, con su vieja voladora

Some girls went to college

Others go away with their boyfriends

Many single mothers

Many drug users

Many drunks

Few beatas

Many putas

All the Comay’s ancestors

Lived on my street

El bochinche was our daily bread

The bar, the drugstore

Y la tienda de Feliciano

Were part of our lives

You breath the smog

And cry the rum

As the time goes by

Many moved away

Many passed away

Many houses were demolished

Many dreams had disappear

Even if 30 years has passed

I still think about it

And still in love with my first street

Historia de amor

Ahora lo cuento y me rio, pero en ese momento no lo podia creer. Salimos por primera vez el 9 de octubre, un dia despues de mi cumpleaños y me dijo que queria casarse conmigo.

Yo no lo sabia, pero habia llamado la atencion de este hombre desde la primera vez que me vio. Yo estaba perdida, buscando un salon sin numero y me asome a una puerta y el profesor me mira y me dice "aqui mismo es". Yo lo mire extrañada y pense ?Como rayo sabe el lo que yo estoy buscando?

La realidad era esta: ni él (el profesor) ni yo (la estudiante) teníamos idea de la verdad tan grande que encerraba aquella frase. Allí era TODO. El salon al que yo iba, donde estaba el hombre de quien iba a enamorarme y con quien me iba a casar, el hombre que yo había estado esperando todo mi vida. Precisamente lo que yo había estado buscando.

Andres, viudo hacia un año, no se habia entusiasmado por ninguna mujer hasta ese momento cuando me vio. Fue la primera vez en ese tiempo en que una mujer le llamó la atención.

A mi me impactó su palabra, su inteligencia, su modo de expresarse, y comencé a interesarme en aquel hombre, guapo, bajito, pero que se robó mi corazón en un mes y medio.

El día antes de mi cumpleaños tenía la clase con él. Llegué al salón sabiendo que él iba a invitarme a salir. ¿cómo lo supe? Pues no se, solo puedo decir que Dios lo puso en mi corazón, lo sabía.

El esperó a que nos quedaramos solos, pero otro estudiante no se iba y yo ya no sabía que más excusas dar para quedarme, así que me fui, pero pensé, si no fue hoy, lo hará cuando se acabe el semestre.

Le habia enviado un cuento mio y mi blog por email a Andrés, así que cuando a las 11:16 pm recibí su mensaje de texto, pensé que sería una reacción a mis escritos. Y si, fue su reacción a mis escritos y a mes y medio de compartir cada viernes y escucharnos mutuamente e interactuar en el salon de clases.

El mensaje decía:

Del Dr. Andrés Batista Rodríguez

Srta Rosa M. Robles con todos los respetos que usted se merece por ser tan excepcional persona. Quiero invitarle a una cita para una cena-conversatorio. Usted puede establecer el momento y el lugar. Tengo la osadia de invitarla porque usted me dijo que está sola y no tiene compromisos. de ser así dejo en sus manos la contestación y solo debe contestar si acepta o no acepta.

En una conversación en el salón sobre mi edad, él me había dicho que me veía mucho más joven de lo que era. Yo le dí la respuesta que le he dado a todo el mundo: No tener marido ni hijos ayuda. Para él esa fue la luz verde para invitarme.

A esa altura del partido él estaba encantado conmigo, y ya sabía hacia donde quería que esa relación caminara. Para muchos podrá ser extraño o incorrecto la rapidez de todo, pero nosotros hemos visto como se ha dado y la integración tan linda que hemos tenido.

Dios nos unió, no tengo duda de eso. Ahora nos toca caminar juntos y edificar la casa, teniendo en cuenta lo que dice el Salmo 127:1

Si Jehová no edificare la casa, En vano trabajan los que la edifican. 

PD: El habia entrado a este blog antes de conocerme y le habia llamado la atencion.  Cuando entro nuevamente supo que habia leido el blog antes.