This

Written by Teresa d’Arenys

Translated from the Catalan by Kristine Doll

Read by Kristine Doll

This

Is a shooting star at the edge

of every solitude, the star that wants

your loneliness and that carries you

beyond moonless nights and days without sun.

Like someone putting a hand on your back.

Or a slight chill, a soft breeze,

a nothing, a whisper that breathes behind you

and pushes you, and yet you are alone;

in essence alone but at the same time

–although you don’t realize it now – more complete.

You don’t know how long the fleeting lasts

nor how a cold breath of suspended melodies

can burn so long,

intimate gem set in a lifetime.