My Aunt Hermelinda

My Aunt Hermelinda

The story of my aunt Hermelinda was always bothersome.

Lost, according to my father, for a year in Yugoslavia.

Missing, according to my uncle, on the ship

back from Argentina via The Sea No One Knows.

Survivors confuse the paths of the dead

with their own, they no longer know what dream,

what memory is from whom.

Was she lost in a time without calendars,

a sea without waves, a ship without walls?

Didn’t she know that while she was alive,

however far she went into the Nameless Country,

she’d always return to the Refugee ship?

They eventually found her,

but if she found herself,

nobody’s telling.