Casas viejas
Ivo Pelay
Old Houses
Who lived,
who lived in these houses of yesterday,
old houses that time bronzed,
old courtyards, color of dampness,
with legends of nights of love?
Platinum by moonlight I saw them
and shining with golden sun,
and today, submissive, I see them waiting
for the sentence marked by the plane,
like the cow going to the slaughterhouse
without anyone saying goodbye.
They go, they go
the beloved old houses.
They are no longer needed,
their lives have ended.
The engine has arrived and its roaring
commands and one must leave.
Cruel time with its chisel
erodes and one must die.
They go, they go
carrying their cross,
like shadows they move away
and vanish before the light.
Love,
love crowned with light
also knew these courtyards.
Their walls kept the faith
and the sacred secret of two.
Caresses lived here...
Sighs sang passion...
Where did the kisses of yesterday go?
Where are the words of love?
Where are she and he?
Like everything, they passed just like these houses
that will not return.
