Alone
One day I had the sea
upon my heart.
Like a cold tongue,
on my heart
the sea.
And I was far from you, my mother.
And you were far from me,
sailing on a bannerless wind.
There were no roots waiting
under the earth,
no trees above the earth.
And the sea licked at my heart
like a cold tongue.
Ah, only my eyes.
In their icy sockets,
nowhere to look at
and spinning.
Líber Falco (1906 – 1955)
* Laura Chalar (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1976) is a lawyer, writer and translator. Her collection of short stories El discreto encanto de la abogacía (2007) received an Honourable Mention in the Uruguayan Ministry of Culture's annual book award. She is co-coordinator of a Uruguayan poetry blog, and her work has been published internationally.