The friend

Suddenly he looked at me,
more solitary than anyone.
He looked at me with his eyes and his bones
and his bare feet in his shoes.
I could not resist it (we cannot stand
anything that looks into the depths).
Behind him was paradise
with all its demons and its stews
and papa God making soap bubbles.
And on this side there was the console table,
the furniture, the witnesses of the living room.
And the friend sitting on a small chair.
Looking at me, sitting, breathing.

El amigo

El amigo

De pronto me miró,
solitario el que más como ninguno.
Me miró con sus ojos y sus huesos
y sus desnudos pies entre zapatos.
No pude resistirlo (el hombre no soporta
lo que mira hasta el fondo).
A espaldas de él estaba el paraíso
con todos sus demonios y pucheros
y papá Dios haciendo sus globitos.
Y de este lado estaba la consola,
los muebles, los testigos de la sala.
Y el amigo sentado en su silleta.
Mirándome, sentado, respirando.