Pela Rua
Ferreira Gullar
Through the Street
Without any hope
I stop in front of a purse display
On Copacabana's avenue, Sunday,
While twilight unfolds over the neighborhood.
Without any hope
I wait for you.
In the crowd coming and going
In and out of bars and cinemas
Your face appears and disappears
In a glimpse
And my heart races.
I see you in the restaurant
In the cinema line, wearing blue
Driving a car, on foot
Crossing the street
Mirage
That finally disintegrates with the afternoon above the buildings
And fades into the clouds.
The city is big
It has four million inhabitants and you are just one.
Somewhere you are at this hour, standing or walking,
Maybe on the next street, maybe on the beach
Maybe chatting in a distant bar
Or on the terrace of that building in front,
Maybe you are coming towards me, unaware,
Mixed with the people I see along the avenue.
But what hope! I have
One chance in four million.
Ah, if only you were a thousand
Spread throughout the city.
The night rises commercial
In the constellations of the avenue.
Without any hope
I continue
And my heart keeps repeating your name
Muffled by the noise of engines
Lost in the smoke of burnt gasoline.
