Testament in Barcelona
History can't be rushed.
We didn't have time to see the village,
we didn't have time to see the house fall
to build light out of mud,
nor did we see time burning.
The city is missing,
and we've saved others,
our backs turned.
What happened
is a different reality in everyone's mind,
but the direction we took
tells us the world doesn't end
when we force air out of bones.
Now we know the myth
by the cup of coffee going cold,
realize we were never told
how to take
the street parallel to our heart.
Copyright Credit: Nathalie Handal, "Testament in Barcelona" from Poet in Andalucia. Copyright © 2012 by Nathalie Handal. Reprinted by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press. All rights controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
Source: Poet In Andalucía (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012)