Back in that time with the lovely name:
Special Period,
Maribel, Maritza, Orestes and I shared lunch.
Although it was little enough
we divided equally
the scant rice and meager soup.
One luxurious day we combined Christmas, New Year
and all the world’s holidays.
We boiled an egg
and also divided it equally.
An old wine bottle with wildflowers and water
accompanied those meals.
Today Maribel lives in Segovia
in a village with the lovely name:
Cerezo de arriba,
Maritza is in Toronto,
Orestes is the pastor at a Baptist church,
and I’m here, still lunching in the same place.
Although it may not seem so at first glance,
we continue to divide the nation
in equal portions.
Translated by Margaret Randall
Originally published in World Literature Today 89, no. 5 (September 2015).
