(for my love)

There is a town
where for generations its inhabitants
jealously
guard a secret.
In the nights of full moon
the lights of the town
are reflected on the sea
and even its houses
seem to come out of the water.
On one such night,
centuries ago,
the inhabitants found,
on the beach,
a huge shell
and within it
was a new-born baby,
with pearl skin.
Lovingly
he was raised by the people.
He was nobody's child
and became the child of all.
He was so beautiful,
with pearl skin,
that was named
the mother-of-pearl boy
and when he grew older
many fell in love with him
and became his lovers.
Then one day ...
he disappeared,
like the moonlight disappears
when it gets tired of shining.
Someone tells
that they saw him enter the shell
that slowly
dipped into the sea.
No one saw him since
but from that day on,
in the full moon nights,
people began to find
pearls in the beach
and whoever found one
fell madly in love
with somebody they already loved
or with someone
they would have soon met
and their love
would have lasted forever.
There's a place
where the inhabitants
keep a secret,
the secret
of the mother-of-pearl boy,
and I ...
found one of those pearls.

September 18, 2020