to Claudia

I'm the earthquake
she's the town builder
who's laid every brick
drawn every plan
everything at the right angle
to have ample perspectives
taking you harmoniously to opposite distances
so you see the past and the future
(and in the present she's busy)
and the cardinal points
and the rising and the setting
of all her theories and the one religion
everything fitting in his place

in love
I scare her because
I'm the earthquake
the challenge
the despair hidden in your heart
opening the way to the voracious roots of the jungle
the wild life
the eternal flow of rivers
grinding the steps of palaces into the finest sand

she's the pyramid
I'm the desert wind
not to humiliate her
to give her the wisdom of scores of centuries
to soften her cornerstones that no one should get hurt
to blur her perspectives that someone might dream

then
in the most vibrant fibre of the heart
I heard that song
the cry of the condor
soaring above jungle and city and river and desert
she was the effort and the urge and the will of the highest note
I was the drumming shifting rythm
finally woven into one
our song

May 92