Wednesday, 23 June 2021

Breve fragmento de un diario hallado a las afueras del infierno


A veces creemos demasiado en una historia. Queremos pensar que las cosas realmente marcharán bien. Y no está mal, desear que el universo conspire a nuestro favor no es algo tonto o infantil, las historias deberían tener finales felices más seguido. Soñamos con historias, momentos que al caer la noche, nos permitan un segundo de alegría eterna. 


Realmente me puse a observar el crepúsculo como si estuviera contigo. Abandonado en los mismos silenciosos callejones de la vida. Las mismas amapolas muertas en los valles cercanos al olvido. Algunos secretos pequeños guardados en lugares olvidados, oscuros. La noche se volvió más fría en algunos baldíos precarios. Verdaderamente, no pude hallar un lugar que no estuviera plagado de muerte. Tal vez yo mismo la llevaba conmigo, mi inseparable compañera. Ojalá pudiera hallar un lugar que no estuviera tan cerca del infierno, todos los rincones se me presentan guardados por el olvido siniestro. Ojalá existiera un lugar seguro en el que los ángeles no pudieran dejar de soñar. Desearía tan solo un momento no olvidar que pude haber sido humano, que pude haber salvado las mismas almas que hoy duermen en los mismos círculos, que yo no pudiera recordar las veces que intenté morir en una madrugada que no me pertenecía. Nunca fui dueño de mi desgracia ni de mis aquelarres, la blanca lápida de un lirio es la hoja en la que mis penas hallan un pequeño lugar en la acuarela.


Un último abrazo al abismo y tal vez tenga mi alma salvada. Me gustaría tenerla de regreso en un saco de lona, o al menos, no tan rota como en aquellos tiempos en que las flores eran negras. Una colina con flores negras, cada una siendo un pedazo de muerte, un silencio más, una mañana que no permite más miradas perdidas. Sonidos dispersos se vuelven un murmullo inteligible gritando un nombre que no quisiera recordar pero que se eleva al cielo hecho un grito de guerra. Una sacudida mortal que abraza todos los espacios vacíos de mi pecho, o la necia palabra del corazón que no puede morir en la manera de ver crepúsculos. Un simple recuerdo puede ser una noche última, nada más que pequeños olvidos brotados de una última esperanza, de una canción incomprensible que tardará milenios en morir. 


¿El silencio más grande del mundo?  He vivido en el silencio más grande del mundo, he habitado los abismos más profundos sin esperanza alguna, un instante, una semana, la eternidad. Las amapolas no florecieron en mi alma. Yo soy el único amigo de la muerte, sin esperanza alguna. Tal vez la madrugada no pudiera esconderme. Tengo miedo de no despertar una mañana y haber sido cómplice de un crimen inefable, el penoso recuerdo de una vida en la que no llegué a sonreír. Me disculpo por eso. Lo siento.


Yo viví el silencio más grande del mundo, y fue la esperanza lo que me mantuvo con vida todo ese tiempo, por eso nunca dejaré de maldecir la luz del sol, la ilusión de un nuevo día. Por un instante más frío, yo pude haberlo dado todo, menos la ilusión de un nuevo corazón roto. 


No hay un bosque oculto en una mirada, al que pueda regresar al caer la noche. Como el caminante que se dirige a las sombras, el último rastro de un pecado imperdonable. Me sentí culpable de mis deseos sanguinarios de morir, tal vez la breve sonata de un campanario fuera mi lamento final, tal vez todos los gritos de guerra se resumirían en un solo sollozo. Siento una pena terrible, espantosa, injustificable, tal vez esa sea la forma en que la muerte nos llama, tal vez esa sea la manera en que los astros desdibujan una sonrisa y la vuelven poesía. Yo no podría explicarlo, no me queda tiempo. Un pedazo nomás, unos fragmentos que seguramente no tendrán sentido para nadie, excepto para mí, mi dolor, mis roturas. Esta noche no soy más que un pedacito de lo que no seré jamás. Tengo miedo de este silencio. Los silencios son peligrosos. 

A.P.


Tuesday, 16 March 2021

Bumblebee

If I don't force myself to write, nothing will come out of these fickle fingers, was her first thought that morning. Why those thoughts would get stuck in her mind like splinters on a finger, she knew not; yet, she knew they helped her cope with life.

I wonder if writing is what makes me have these thoughts or behave like this, she continues thinking; for, thoughts, would only make sense inside her mind: once she uttered any random word belonging to one of those thoughts, they would become instant lies.

She would think flowers are so smooth and soft, like butterflies diving through a water-less sea and, had she uttered butterflies there would, suddenly, be no butterflies nor flowers around and nobody would even understand what she meant. As if people around her were thinking of flour instad of flower or butter that flies instead of butterflies and, thus, her words would become meaningless, senseless, utterless. 

One day, she thought of her pet snake, Bumblebee: she was yellow with black stripes like a bee, Sarah loved the way bumble sounded, it had a taste of strawberries and, to her, it made sense a snake smelling (or tasting, the difference in meanings she could not grasp) and looking, at the same time, like a wide-eyed bee. Beauty full she would think, nothing's beauty fuller than Bumblebee and bees and carrots and strawberries and stripes! I love stripes! They're ripe enough to be eaten: the stripes, not the strawberries...

Her thoughts fought thoughtful fights in her mind. They were like male gazelles fighting for the love of the most suitable female to mate. Red, lemon, pineapple and cinnamon smoothie was what came to mind when thinking of gazelles mating. 

Sarah's husband, a renowned psychiatrist, was intrigued about getting to know her deepest thoughts. You're a true mystery, Sarah... he would say, in a loving voice, the one she fell in love with. She would feel delighted, take it as a compliment and continue smelling words and seeing colours that nobody ever saw. Nobody had a clue about her way of thinking or understanding things, people only took her as too immature for her age or lacking the capacity to express her thoughts in a normal way. 

That day, the fickle-fingered day, she kissed her husband after dining and, with a shy smile, said: "do you also taste Bumblebee like a strawberry?" She had never uttered such long sentence, it made her thoughts quiver as if going through a massive earthquake. He stared at her. A protruding grin. His crooked teeth sparkling in amusement. His eyes hinted a Black Mamba coiling, attentive. 

"No, my love, have you actually bit or licked Bumblebee?" he said.

"No, I..." she answered.

"Come, let's get Bumblebee and let's have you tell me what you see in her eyes" the grin, the eyes, the teeth shining oh-so-brightly as if a Black Mamba just about to strike.

Silence. Her brain was paralysed. Had someone seen a brain scan at that exact moment, they would've diagnosed her as a carrot or, even better: as a leek, for her hair was dark-green, long and, that day, she was wearing a creamy dress —it wasn't white nor beige, something quite unnoticeable, like tasting water in a fruit salad. 

Sarah's legs weren't responding. Something made her feel alert. She was smart, she wouldn't let anyone know her true intentions. Her husband, though he had his own suspicions about the way her brain worked, he was always cautious before striking. This time was different: Sarah smelled burnt roses in the small house of theirs, even though there were no flowers nor anything being burnt.

Danger, Sarah! You're in danger, my love whispered an indistinguishable voice inside her mind. She obeyed whatever she heard. NOW! NOW! Grab the chandelier by your side. FAST. He's petting Bumblebee, strike fast before he does! 

With a fast, imperceptible movement, she grabbed the pure-gold chandelier by her side. He was looking the other way and noticed nothing. Hit him! NOW! NOW, sugar tits! She loathed being called sugar tits, she couldn't stand it, unsolved childhood traumas birthed through her at the thought of it. She hit him non-stop. Her dress, now bright red, smelled of red roses. They weren't burning. She saw the Black Mamba, inside his eyes, die. She saw the crooked teeth straighten and become darker as blood oozed through them. He was dead.

Silence. Again. An overwhelming feeling of confusion. Darkness.