empty space
there is a girl walking in the beach
you watch her from far away
you’re sitting in a rock
the wind numbs your senses
you hear only the sea and the wind
there’s nothing else
but wait, yes, there is the girl
the sky is white and the sea is dark and in the clear sand it’s this girl
that does not know she is being watched
because of course she can only see the sea
she can only hear the wind
you can only wonder what goes through her mind while her feet walk toward the water
and then into the water
and then far from the water again
you think she must be lost in many thoughts such as
a love she once lost
a friend she once met
a dream she wants to follow
an ambition she wants to pursue
you cannot know she thinks so much deeper
that she thinks about the dark water
and the white sky
and the many lives she wish she could live
when se has only one
that she thinks about death
and how it would feel to merge into the cold sea
she is alone after all
in that grey lonely day
and so her thoughts run freely
you cannot know that for her
in the deep, uncontrollable desire to live lies the impossible wish to die
no.
you don’t know that
you think of nothing
or perhaps
you think just the same as her but you will never know
because you are so far away from her
even though your minds couldn’t be closer
your souls couldn’t be more connected
nor your hearts beating in a more synchronised symphony
however the world works in mysterious ways
and so you will look at her
touching shyly her feet in the freezing water
until all the light is gone
there are no stars nor the moon that night
the wind finally settles
is only the sea now to remind you that you are still alive
you decide is late and its too cold to stay there any longer
so you get up
and you look at the girl one last time and you leave
you don’t look back so you don’t know that the girl looked up just the second you turned away
she stares at the empty space for a while and then turns her eyes back to the sea.
-Antônia D.G.Lau