El insomne / Vicente Gerbasi

The Insomniac


to Francisco Pérez Perdomo


The insomniac doesn’t rest.
He closes his eyes
and keeps seeing the specter
passing through the wall
and coming back with the shining,
opaque lamp
of the dead.
The insomniac touches the cold
wooden bed
and feels like he’s sleeping
in the coffin.
The insomniac opens
his eyes
and sees the specter again
passing through the wall
with its severed head.
The insomniac puts on the severed head
in place of his own head
and starts to scream,
but he doesn’t scream
because no one hears him.
The insomniac screams, screams,
but no one hears him.
The insomniac floats
in the silence of the Universe




{Vicente Gerbasi, El solitario viento de las hojas, Caracas: Tierra de Gracia Editores, 1989}