BALLAD of the SNOW
Something taps, so lightly, lightly As if calling out to me Is it rain? Is it people? People it is not, surely And rain does not tap like that
By Augusto Gil
Something taps, so lightly, lightly As if calling out to me Is it rain? Is it people? People it is not, surely And rain does not tap like that
Perhaps it is the wind blowing But a moment ago, just a little while ago Not a single needle stirred In the quiet melancholy Of the pine trees along the path...
Who taps like this, so lightly With such a strange lightness That it can hardly be heard or felt? It is not rain, nor is it people, Nor is it the wind, for sure
I went to see. The snow was falling From the grey-blue of the sky White and light, white and cold...
- It is so long since I last saw it!
And how I have missed it, my God!
I watch it through the windowpane. It has turned everything the colour of linen, People pass by and, as they pass, They print and trace their footsteps On the whiteness of the path...
I stay looking at these marks Of the poor people making their way, And I notice, among the rest, The tiny tracks Of a child's little feet...
Barefoot, and aching... The snow still lets them be seen, At first, clearly defined, Then, in long furrows, Because they could not lift them!...
That those who are already sinners Should suffer torments, so be it! But the children, Lord, Why do you give them so much pain?!... Why do they suffer so?!...
And an infinite sadness A deep disquiet Comes into me, stays held within me, Snow falls upon Nature
- and falls upon my heart.
Because it is always good to remember... Carla and Nuno