Paseo Atocha

Paseo Atocha, Ponce PR (Foto Edil Rentas)

Las viejas calles de mi pueblo, 

tumultuosas, parlanchinas,

abarrotadas de transeuntes 

despistados por sus compras,

llenas de olor a frituras,

a café expreso y domplines,

adornada de flores en venta,

de billeteros y limpiabotas,

de palomas en vuelo,

de viejos predicadores

de ventanas abiertas 

y balcones adornados

con tapices polvorientos,

carros cotorrientos van,

guaguas gritonas vienen,

anunciando los especiales

del sàbado en la mañana,

y la gente alborotada entra

en cada comercio abierto

desmadrando escaparates 

como si el fin se acercara,

y en las vitrinas adornadas

los pobres cuelgan sus ojos

soñando lo que no tienen,

lo que quisieran comprar

y en la esquina el limosnero

extiende su mísera mano,

el niño triste lo mira 

y el adulto lo desprecia

pero una mano generosa

le aventa una moneda,

toda la calle era bullicio,

toda la calle era vida,

queda, bajo la hojarasca

de los robles rosados

las pisadas taconadas

retumbando en sus paredes 

y la nostalgia dormida.

Elvin Pierantoni

"Connection"

Many years ago we visited the National Zoo in Washington DC. One of the exibits was a huge gorilla that was in a cage set beside a walkway, with a wall to wall glass partition dividing the cage and the people. Immediately following the glass on the bottom there was a ledge about foot and a half high where the gorilla sat, with his back on the concrete column, and his right side against the glass. He was sitting with his right leg up and bent towards his chest and his right elbow resting on his knee, while his left leg lay rested on the floor. 

I approached the glass and stood right by him, he looked up into my eyes, directly into my eyes, for a several seconds, then looked at another person's eyes, then another, then another. He kept switching, his look from one person to another, as if he was seeking an answer. An answer no one there could provide. I mean, we were separated by only a few inches of glass, but I could almost read his thoughts, his never ending question. Why am I here? His demeanor was so human, the way he sat, relaxed, thinking, observing, it left a mark in my heart and in my mind. Although he was in a safe place, well taken care off, I'm sure he would have preferred to be in the wild. Since that day I view caged animals in a different way. I'm happy just to see then on a National Geografics documentary, in the wild.