Vicente Gerbasi (Canoabo, 1913 - Caracas, 1992)
To Francisco Pérez Perdomo
The insomniac doesn’t rest.
He closes his eyes
and keeps seeing a specter
that passes through the wall
and comes back when the lamp
turns on, opaque,
from the dead.
The insomniac touches the wood
on the bed, cold,
and he feels like he’s sleeping
in the coffin.
The insomniac opens his eyes
and sees the specter again
crossing through the wall
with his scarred head.
The insomniac places the scarred head
in place of his own head
and begins to scream,
but he doesn’t scream
because no one hears him.
The insomniac screams, screams,
but no one hears him.
The insomniac floats
in the silence of the Universe.
1989
Antología poética (Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores, 1990)
