by Jose Manuel Sevilla

Again we filled up an apartment,
again stepped on new sidewalks
quiet like horses that we would have to tame.

Again we began, stubborn, insolent
like people being born,
we let the dogs of the neighbourhood smell us,
taking for a walk those unleashed godless souls of ours,
we surely had to negotiate.

Here the flowers told us
of a promised land that wasn’t this one,
they all talk about the same, always, everywhere,
but we liked their accent that we didn’t know.

No word in our mouths
stood up to let the name of this day have a seat,
damned words gossiping bad news
like 20th century televisions,
playing cards and throwing ash on the tongue.
We saw a beautiful fountain
for humans and dogs
and we rinsed our mouths,
it was the best day of our life.

It was the best day of our life,
from that day we would listen to
all our hearts every night
the ears close to the chest,
we heard them stubborn, insolent
beating over the siren of a distant ambulance
only then we could sleep.”