by Conrado V. Pedroche
A young girl was taking a bath
by a wide-mouthed well:
she was naked, she was lovely,
and her shoulders were smooth
and brown and cool;
she splashed a bucketful of water
over her head, and, her hair
tumbled darkly over her tiny breasts;
her body glistening wetly
under the bright summer sky.
When she saw me she covered her nakedness
with her small ineffectual hands
and bared her white teeth in a snarl
of defiance, her eyes gleaming
with bright childish anger.
Tonight walking alone under
the flowering trees, in the shadows
I think of her: Where is she now? I whistle a tune and the silence
rings with fluid echoes -
Did her body ripen into fullness
rich with promises of affection?
Is she waiting for a lover's kiss
in the moonlight, for her lover's arms
in the moonlight? Is she happy?
I have no way of knowing.
I shall never know.
