Small Ads in the Night
(Translated by Gwyneth Box)

He leafs through the pages
of a senior citizens’ newsletter. At the window
the city trembles like the embers of a heatless fire.
Lady, sixty-something, attractive, seeks
elderly gentleman travelling companion.
Ex-detective, in good shape, still,
offers friendship, and to take care
of a respectable lady.
Lady, advanced in years, would like to share
expenses, household chores
and living accommodation with same.
Retired sailor seeks friendship
with a lady interested in
tales of travel and adventure.

He looks at how the living tapestry trembles:
farther off, and higher, sees
the shadow of sea and sky, where thought
is the ink which writes this message:
Someone from another age who now,
with no illusions, lives alone
wishes she were still here,
to visit together cities which
they should have visited.
So many cities
like tapestries of light where
elderly fantasies recede into the night.

Joan Margarit