DREAM

And why do we stay to watch

an old man bathing

purpled limbs exposed to

horrified helpless stare

(his peeling cerements will reveal

their stale tobacco stuffing

or perhaps dried bull’s blood stinking

Chorizos of Asturias)

an old man bathing

going through the casual motions

of the living Old man

what will wash away

the smell of dying and what for?

Purpled limbs

shall still be wormed, or

browned in chill formaldehyde-

purpled hawsers sheerly holding on

while the slag heaps wait below.

Why do we stay to watch

as if waiting?

                                                         -  Ma. Lorena Barros

                                                            Sunday Times Magazine

                         Nov. 26, l967