The Space of Solitude

The Space of Solitude

Dawn surprised me on the patio

without daring to sleep.  I took to the jungle

and built myself a house without windows

where the pirates of my nightmares

could not reach me.  Orchids occupied a space

of solitude and exclusion, forbidden to birds. 

Everything resembled a tight forest of flowers

with the sea at a short distance.

I was alien to the existence of my people,

because I considered infancy as a period

of mental shortage, and because I was usually

too absorbed in my own chimerical speculations.

I was alone in my space, the solitude tolerable.