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1891

I just glimpse and lose him.
Correct black suit
with neckerchief,
narrow brow, sparse mustache,
on his way through the crowd in the evening
within himself looking at nobody.
At the corner of Piedras
he has a drink. Habit.
Someone shouts goodbye. No answer.
Old hate in his eyes.
Another block. A bit of milonga
reaches him from a yard. Cheap guitars
are always grinding his patience,
but his walk sways unnoticed.
His hand lifts to feel the firm
handle of the dagger in his vest.
Off to collect a debt. Not much more.
Some steps and he pauses.
In the passageway there's a blooming thistle.
A bucket bumps the cistern
and he hears a well-known voice.
The door is open
as if he was awaited. Tonight
perhaps he will have died.