Wednesday 6 February 2013

Pieces of Me, Pieces of Havana

your gandolf-like beard preceded you every time you marched down obispo boulevard grey facial follicles that acted like a weather rooster to us habaneros a way a peculiar unique way to measure the force of the wind you used to carry your few belongings in a black bag and a bundle of papers in a folder wrapped around you like a crusader your black cape defied the seething cuban summer and like a modern quixote you fended off passers-by’s puzzled looks with your long dirty gnarled fingernails which like twisted spears seemed to battle imaginary giants every time you moved them in your never-ending soliloquies to you all areas including green areas were go areas there were no no trespassing or keep off the grass signs you didn’t tread from the plaza de armas in old havana to the 21st street park in el vedado you sat on the dry lawn leafing through the pages of your notebooks and papers you carried maybe looking for your real identity wondering how you’d got there why we called you what we called you we called you el caballero de paris following blindly local lore thinking that in a distant past too distant for us to even contemplate you had been a gentleman monsieur so and so recently arrived from la ville-lumière a man well-versed in the belles lettres and yet and yet and yet you weren’t french but spanish as i found out long after you were dead because you died before i could apologise to you apologise for recoiling with fear every time i saw you walking towards us my mother and me on obispo boulevard of course you weren’t walking towards us i doubt you even acknowledged our presence and yet i cowered like a seven or eight year old cowers in the dark

getting smaller

and smaller

and smaller

until all i saw was your gandalf-like beard looming imposingly over me

but find out i did you were originally from galicia celtic descendant through your veins ran the blood of the citizens of the city of lugo named after the god of light oaths and arts i imagine that one day you looked west and set out looking for fame and fortune and ended up unintentionally as the chorus of a rumba sung in the slums and streets of havana and  played on wooden boxes and conga drums mira quien viene por ahi el caballero de pari’ look who’s coming here the caballero de paris is already here born at the end of a century and almost the beginning of a new one you were our harmless intellectual vagabond our urban wizard without a wand but with a black bag full of your belonging and a bundle of papers in a folder

© 2013

Next Post: “Exercises on Free Writing”, to be published on Sunday 10th February at 10am (GMT)


 Photo taken from Cubanos por el Mundo

26 comments:

  1. What a wonderful portrait and perhaps the longest sentence ever! I like the line especially about the dark cape defying a Cuban summer.

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  2. Wonderful and tender memory of such a character, Cuban. A fellow Galician who became part of Havana's history and the city honoured him with a statue. Besos desde Galicia.

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  3. You write very well; it would almost shock me if you haven't written any books...life is a large set of questions, we'e getting through them day by day

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  4. You sure captured much today with such a display. Wonderfully depicted.

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  5. Me has hecho pasearme un poquito por esta bellísima ciudad que es la Habana, llena de recuerdos, un abrazo

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  6. Ah, what a presence!
    Yes, that long sentence was quite an imposed statement reflecting the man, the beard, the impression to be made.
    Well done!

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  7. nice..you had me with the gandalf beard already...quixote like as well..and love how you describe him.. and what a shame he didn't have a wand...smiles

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  8. dang....very nice...you really capture this man well making him easy to see and the flow of your prose is wonderful...urban wizard....smiles...i would like to meet this man....

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  9. Beautiful! So well written. Glad I came to visit. Hope you are well!

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  10. Many thanks for your kind comments.

    Well, in terms of long sentences, I would have tough competition from James Joyce. Molly Bloom's monologue in "Ulysses" is probably, if not the longest, one of the longest sentences ever written. And my favourite part of the novel.

    I have to confess that I wrote the text for this post on a piece of paper one night after coming across the photo I used in the final draft. The minute I saw that slender figure, memories burst forth and I realised I had to write about this urban legend. When I finished writing I also noticed that I had not used a single capital letter nor a punctuation mark. Those who are regulars on my blog know how fastidious I am about grammar.

    I think that we have all been touched at some points in our lives by an eccentric (even mad?) person like "El Caballero de Paris" (literally "The Gentleman of Paris").

    Have a great weekend.

    Greetings from London.

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  11. El caballero--you almost manage to catch up with him, almost, since he eludes you, eludes all of us. Your pursuit is lively, free. I like it.

    Regards from South Beach, a place full of characters but not one matches the bearded caballero in a black cape . . .

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  12. Wonderful writing - I can envisage this urban wizard!

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  13. What an amazing character, Cuban.
    You drew me into the story so deeply that I felt I knew this Urban Wizard personally!

    Thank you for such a facinating post. :)

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  14. I agree with Eat, this is prose poetry of the highest order. A wonderful read. Thanks for it.

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  15. Excelente descripción del caballero de Paris pero tambien de las calles de la Habana . I had the pleasure to visit Habana In August 2012 and going back in the summer of 2013 Again .Amazing work keep the good work .

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  16. Love this...alwasy enjoy your story telling ways as well, you draw us in and bring images to our heads of this mysterious man. Love the part about you as a child, it is amazing when you think about the things you thought were so big as a little one and how normal they are after you reached adulthood. At the end, loved the photo...brought it all to life :) beautifully done!

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  17. Sencillamente, gracias.

    Nuestra historia debe ser contada!

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  18. You describe him so well and what a nice tribute to a man you never knew. He sounds so interesting and I'm sure could have told many an exciting tale. You brought to mind a character from my childhood that I haven't thought about in many years. She was an elderly woman, who roamed our neighborhood was very eccentric. Thanks for jarring my mind back to her.

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  19. poetry :-) i need it explaining to be honest but admire the skill -

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  20. Your words are like the bold strokes of a brush-full of intent, full of destiny.

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  21. Cubano, I have missed your fine writing; your stories never fail to draw me in.

    As a child, I spent a few summers in lively Habana, and I have many wonderful and vivid memories of our vacations there.


    However, I was born in the little province of Matanzas. And, let me add, we had our own colorful characters in that part of the island too. I could never bring them to life, as you have, so I won't ever try.


    And it is your unparalleled writing, that makes me want to get to know more of the mysterious protagonist in this story.

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  22. Wonderful photo and beautiful writing!! Cheers from KY.

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  23. A love this character snapshot. You painted his especially well.

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