738 | DECLARATIONS ABOUT LIFE – Luis Cruz-Villalobos, Chile

At the peak, painting by Luis Cruz-Villalobos

DECLARATIONS ABOUT LIFE

Life is a slow melancholy about what is missing and about
that which is no longer and will never return
It is a deferred calm that kisses our eyes before
we fall asleep and before we wake.

Life surrounds our bad and our good
as if it were a sudden explosion
It comes among the clouds of dust and leans in close to
tell us that all shall pass but nothing passes

Life walks on the keys of a harpsichord or on
the strings of a violincello
And it sings to us a baroque song to make us
believe that it is full of beautiful details

Life walks by our side or does us good right in
our most precise center
It does not allow us to steer away from what is important
although we usually end up lost.

Luis Cruz Villalobos, Chile

Translated by Mark McGraw