Writing- Some things from here in Spain

Sunflowers

Thousands of dead sunflowers line the road on which I travel. They all bow their heads in the same direction as if, in the same moment, on the same day, they all turned their faces into the sun, said goodbye, and gave up their hold on this earth. And yet though their souls, if they ever had any, seem to have departed, their tall dried bodies still fill the fields. Brown dried out sentinels still all facing the same direction. As though they were waiting for something to appear but simply got old and tired when, after so long, nothing came. They look like their hopes have all been dashed; as though they have realized that sunflowers cannot have dreams, cannot see miracles, and the realization crushed their very hearts.

Once, they stood straight and beautiful, hearts full to the brim of summers and sunshine. They spent their days watching the sun cross the sky and believing that happiness would never end… But now it is autumn and the human beings are falling in love, the season to find someone to keep you warm for the winter. But for the flowers… they have found their hopes misplaced. Discovering that the sun moves farther and farther away, that the rains stop coming and the ground dries up. And no matter how much they wish to keep their stalks green and petals in the sun, one by one they must give up; turn brown, brittle, and dry. Their faces bowed to the ground, their leaves hanging stiffly by their sides.

And yet, somehow, they still stand. Inevitably, one day they must lie down, mustn’t they? Their dead roots cannot hold against the winds forever… Though all their hopes have fled, though they are shells and crumpled corpses of what their glory was before, though the eternal summer they awaited will never ever come, somehow they still stand. I watch them as I go by, and I wonder… I wonder against all my reason and all my knowledge. I wonder if their patience is in fact in vein. A part of me wants to believe that their broken hollowed out bodies will stand tall and green, whole again, and that their supreme faith will be rewarded… someday. Part of me wants to believe.

Madrugada

Cuando camines en la sombra
Te quedes sin ni siquiera una vela
Pasas por el silencio
Hacia… no sabes que
Pie adelante pie
Pasando con el ritmo del corazón
Tan despacio la sangre
Enfriándose dentro de las venas
Buscas el sol
Paso a paso
Cuando ves las montañas
Y se parecen a tu hogar
Parecen como tu casa
Pero están tan lejos
Pie adelante pie
Y respires como el aire está saliendo
Esta ciudad ya vacía
Y las hojas del verano
Pasan tu camino
Susurrando con voces secos
Contándote de los días que han ido
Paso a paso
Pie adelante pie
Buscando el sol
No puedes parar
No puedes regresar
Cuando sientes que el mundo es tan redondo
Y gira debajo de tu cuerpo
Casi te calles
Pie adelante pie
La música no siempre será triste
Claro, el noche sí es oscuro
Dura a través del milenio
Pero esperanza viene con la madrugada
Solo tienes que seguir-
Lo más duro de la vida
Paso a paso
Pie adelante pie
Esperando el sol