The day of creation

I see the same sad sun as yesterday from the porch on the farm Taurinos today. Blurred, skimmed by the clouds, coming down like haze on the beautiful mountains of Taurinos and on all of us. Strange and stuffy sensation in a month when summer and its temperature should be on the decrease. And because today is Saturday, I remembered a poem written by Vinícius de Moraes I had read long ago, but which I never forgot.

"In this moment, there is a wedding
Because today is Saturday
There is a divorce and a rape
Because today is Saturday
There's a rich man who kills himself
Because today is Saturday
There's incest and a race
Because today is Saturday
There is a show of glamour
Because today is Saturday
There is a woman who gets beaten and stays silent
Because today is Saturday
There is a deep discord
Because today is Saturday
There is a great big killjoy
Because today is Saturday
There is a woman who turns into a man
Because today is Saturday
There are children who won't eat
Because today is Saturday
There is a politicians' picnic
Because today is Saturday
There is an increase in syphilis
Because today is Saturday
There is an Aryan and a Mulatto
Because today is Saturday
There is a weird tension
Because today is Saturday
There are half-naked teenagers
Because today is Saturday
There is a vampire on the streets
Because today is Saturday
There is a great increase in consumption
Because today is Saturday
There is an incredibly jealous fiancé
Because today is Saturday
There is a garden party at a prison
Because today is Saturday
There is an impassible full moon
Because today is Saturday
There are ladies of all classes
Because today is Saturday
Some easy, some difficult
Because today is Saturday
There is countless drinking and giving
Because today is Saturday
There is an unhappy woman on the loose
Because today is Saturday
There is a priest strolling in plain clothes
Because today is Saturday
There is a frenzy of bananas growing
Because today is Saturday
There is the distressing sensation
Because today is Saturday
Of a woman inside a man
Because today is Saturday
There is a fantastic celebration
Because today is Saturday
Of the first plastic surgery
Because today is Saturday
Considering the processing accomplished
Because today is Saturday
There is the perspective of a Sunday
Because today is Saturday."

The Day Of Creation, Canto II, written by Vinícius de Moraes

"What is syphilis?", asked Adriano abruptly, suddenly at my side.

Here I want to clarify I was not saying the poem out loud. I was thinking of the words instead. How come Adriano could have "read" the word if I was just thinking of it?

"It's an old disease that unfortunately still exists.", I was quick to explain. I didn't want him to notice I was puzzled by that event (I shouldn't in the long run, because I know their potential for ESP in Taurinos). But I was definitely not ready for what I heard next.

"You were very sick in the beginning of February, no?", he said, giving me a serious eye.

"When, exactly?", I could hardly disguise my surprise.

"When my father first visited you in your house."

Andrés came out of the house all of a sudden and even the noisy coils of the screen door at the porch sounded fierce this time. He sprang on to his brother and the two rolled on the floor in a sudden and absurd row until somehow I managed to pull them apart before they reached the table with my laptop. Duílio loomed at the door, belt in hand for his usual medieval dose of peace maintanance.

"Who started it?"

It was fun to hear the two saying each other's name at the same time. Then it was not fun anymore.

At the breakfast table, the kids with red sore spots on their skin. I wouldn't dare to ask Andrés about the reasons for his fierce attack on his brother, not there at the table, not at that moment. I was contented by following his fierce stare at his brother on the other side of the table.

I saw Andrés on the phone later. What he said was impossible to tell. What I knew was that he called all the other members of Taurinos' Ancient Society: Anderson, Bruno, Guilherme and Renan. Later on, he harnessed and mounted his horse, disappearing from view to an unknown destination.

"Any clue as to where your brother could have gone, Adriano?"

He turned his eyes to me and didn't seem to know where his brother was going. But he seemed to know why he was taking that ride.

"Why do you think he got at you like that?"

Adriano changed subjects brusquely. I tried to read some sign of anything in him, but nothing seemed evident in his attitude. The question as to why he'd call all the members of Taurinos' Ancient Society remained in the air. Nagging questions always remain.

I had an idea. Went to the bays where Andrés had gotten the horse from. I told Adriano to help me look for any object Andrés could have touched before leaving or anything that he found to be out of place. He didn't take long to notice something.

"The crop shouldn't be on the floor. He must have dropped it as he left and didn't notice that", Adriano said in the end.

He passed the crop on to me and we went back to the porch. I sat on a chair, held the crop and shut my eyes, while Adriano was apparently trying to understand why I was doing that. At first, nothing seemed to happen. No image seemed to form from my contact with the crop. It ocurred to me that that crop could have been lying on the floor for days, without any connection with Andrés going out today. When I was about to quit the experiment, I could clearly hear Andrés' voice. Wrapped in echo, telling the others what he used to tell me: that Adriano said too much. I heard Bruno's voice, in discord, saying he supported Adriano. Saying it was time the story was told. Then, nothing else could be heard. As a broadcast that is suddenly closed or cut off.

"Are they going to put me to death?"

"Maybe."

"They were talking about our conversation today, no?"

I never answered this question, but it was not necessary. He knew more than me what was going on. He wouldn't need the crop or the memory in it. I thought about going on with our conversation, but refrained from doing so in that moment. Maybe because I felt a real threat was being posed on Adriano.

Sad sun | Advent


Radio Universal: The Day of Creation