CUBA

Michael Kelleher

1

I go to her apartment to have my fortune told.  I am without an invitation.  Each morning I wake afraid the hot water will be gone.  Today there was no hot water. 

Perhaps if I could eat a little less. 

From the room in her apartment the city looks like Paris.  It is not Paris. 

This game is played by amateurs. 

She hands me a bag of stones.  I take a stone out of the bag.  I put it on the floor.  She tells me my fortune. 

I do not like my fortune.  She records my dreams instead.  Others come to record their dreams.  She records their dreams and I listen.  I do not understand them.  They are speaking Half-Russian.

Let me give you a piece of advice.

2

Today I saw a man with blue eyes.  He wore a hooded sweatshirt and his eyes were blue.  In his public confession he confessed to being what he confessed.  He confessed to being that.  He didn't like his fortune, but he accepted his fate. 

On the hill across the bay stands a tower. 

Her lover went away to seek his fortune.  She prayed before the temple beneath a tree.  There are stories about the tree, about the temple, about the tower.  Tienes que relacionarte con el dolor. 

This is meant as solace. 

3

And then one of them left.  And then another.  And then another.  And then three more.  And then five more.  And then hordes and hordes of them left.

4

Yesterday the water was lukewarm. 

She waited in the tower for her lover to return.  She waited and waited until one day he returned.  He didn’t find his fortune.  She told him to call again tomorrow.

The phone rings.  I pick it up.  Tienes que relacionarte con el dolor.  There is no light in this room. 

On the hill across the bay is Christ.  He is tall and white.  He is made of stone.  He is afraid there will be no hot water. 

5

Today the water is freezing cold.  It makes the bumps on my skin stand up.  I can’t turn it off.  It is freezing cold and I can’t turn it off.  I am afraid I am going to freeze to death.  I am afraid I am going to die. 

And then it stops.  And there is no more water.  And there is no more water for many days to come.

Perth is the rune of mystery. 
6

The phone rings.  It rings again.  It rings again.  It stops ringing.

7

There are stories about him.  About who is father was.  He is the child of the father of many.  There is a family resemblance.  We do not like to talk about it, but it is true.  It is true and we do not like to talk about it. 

We must continue to resist our hunger.  For instance.

He went away for two years.  He went away for fourteen years.  And then he came back.  He never came back.  And then he came back.  He didn't find his fortune.  From the room in his apartment the city looks like Paris. 

It is Paris.

8

There is a picture on a wall.  A man smiling. 

There is a picture of him on another wall.  Shaking hands with another man. 

There is a picture of him on a third wall.  Fishing. 

On the fourth wall there is a door.  A man walks through the door.  He smiles.  He shakes my hand.  He asks if I like fishing. 

9

And now there isn't anyone left except them.  And they are left.  And they have been left.  And they are all that is left.

10

I know a woman who lives in a cave in the mountains.  She mumbles.  She beats a drum.

I go to her.  I give her something.  She gives me something in return. 

I go away.  I go away for many years. 

And then one day I return.  I carry a pouch beneath my pants.  It contains a small fortune.

11

On the hill across the bay stands a tower.  It is tall and white.  It is made of stone.  This game is played by professionals.  We do not like to talk about it, but it is true.  It is true and we do not like to talk about it.

She takes a stone out of a bag.  She puts it on the floor.  The stone is blank.