INTIMATIONS OF THE NEXT WORLD

21.

"Soy un técnico, pero tengo técnica
solo dentro de la técnica.
Aparte de esto estoy loco,
con todo el derecho de estarlo."
Fernando Pessoa

Day 1 is sunny,
day 2 is cloudy; am I
here in Lisboa
to document the collapse
of the euro currency

or the footprints of
Pessoa still fresh on the
paving stones after
all these years, crazy
in a world where all watches

display the same hour,
where fascism holds hands with
anarchy and we
are all supposed to go down
together into that good

night of History?
Pessoa would probably
say, right along with
Garbo, that the only wish
we can have is the right to

want to be alone,
and it's been taken from us.
Greeks band together
to swallow tear gas instead
of World Monetary Funds,

and Italians march
against neo-liberal
prime ministers, while
in Oakland the streets
are reloaded with police

shooting at panthers
who this time round may be white,
and Benetton shows
Obama judas-kissing
Chávez and receives thumbs down.

In the Juneau rain
a Haida leader explains
why the survival
of our species depends on
their right to be left alone.