Tarea 1

Se supone que tengo que escribir, durante esta semana, todo lo que siento por tí. Lo que sea, sean cosas buenas o malas, sentimientos dulces o amargos, cualquier pensamiento.

Pero ya casi ni pienso en ti, solo una vez, de hecho, una vez que a veces dura todo el día: cuando me despierto ahi estás frente a mí en ese lecho que compartimos. Me despierto, me baño, me visto y me voy a trabajar. En el camino pienso en tí, en las calles que caminamos tantas veces, algunas de la mano.

Paso todos los días frente al centro médico al que me llevaste porque estabas preocupado por mí. Paso por la farmacia a la que fuimos después, y por la esquina donde tomamos un taxi para regresar a trabajar. En ese taxi me miraste con deseo. Yo tenía ganas de llorar, por mí y por tu ausencia.

Sí fuiste bueno conmigo a veces. Cuando me llevaste al hospital por segunda vez. Recuerdo como me aferraba a tí para no caerme en el metro, mientras ponía todas mis fuerzas en no llorar. Tenía miedo pero quería alargar esos momentos para siempre. Momentos en los que podia estar junto a tí, donde nadie sabía quienes éramos y podíamos aparentar que estábamos juntos y que estar juntos estaba bien.

Luego paso por las calles que no significan nada entre tú y yo. En esas calles me doy cuenta de la única sobreviviente de nuestra historia soy yo. Tú moriste en el momento en que te fuiste, en el momento en que me escribiste ese mensaje de despedida, diciendo que volverías y gracias por todo.

Dios me libre de volver a vivir lo que viví cuando te fuiste. Que me libre de volver a estar en el fondo de un mar tormentoso y agitado del que no puedo salir. Que me libre de hundirme en un amor tan inmenso y tan dañino, que me libre de volver a tí.

Dios me libre de herir a alguien como lo hiciste tú conmigo. Que me libre de arrastrar el corazón de alguien en el lodo. Que me libre de pisotear un amor tan hermoso, que me libre de ser tan ciega que no pueda ver la luz en la vida y en los ojos de alguien más. Que me libre de ser egoísta. Que Dios me libre de ser tan cobarde como tú.

Sé que si te perdono, seré libre. Y dejaré libre a tu alma también.

Cuando llego a casa en la noche, me siento mejor, casi curada. Todos los días veo gente y situaciones que me hacen sentir renovada. Me siento satisfecha de haber sobrevivido y de poder darle la cara al sol una vez mas y ya no creer que no merezco verlo por la mañana. Me siento alegre de verme mas madura y fuerte, me siento orgullosa de poder verme en el espejo y poder volver a sonreírle a aquella que me mira.

Me siento cansada de tí. Me siento cansada de pensarte, de quererte, de desear encontrarme contigo en casa esquina del mundo. Cansada de saber que no pasará y sorprendida de darme cuenta de que en realidad me importa cada vez menos y que tengo cosas más importantes y más hermosas y útiles que hacer con mi vida que recordar que existes.

Ya no estoy tan segura de que el amor verdadero no muera jamás.

 

 

to A, whom I thought to be my soul mate

To A, in the last days of my love for him.

This excerpt I found in a book I read between yesterday and today. And this is what I have discovered about myself and my love.

“Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back , the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. ” from Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat Pray Love. Penguin, 2006 (p. 198)

I learnt so much from you. I learnt so much with you. I learnt so much in your eyes, in your kiss and in your body. I learnt so much from my tears and the devastating pain the loss of you brought to my heart. There are times when I feel I don’t have a heart any longer.

There were times when I thought I wouldn’t be able to breathe again, that I wouldn’t survive to see the sun the next day, that the pain in my body would never cease. There were times when tears would pour out of me as if some tap had been opened and I was so small and weak to close it.

I was too small and too weak. But I have had to grow strong. I have defeated the waves of self-pity and cowardice. I have had to let go of you. I still dread to look at my broken heart. I’m still not strong enough to look.

I am afraid that if I look I will hate myself for letting you do this to me, to bring all this damage to me.

But I still think that our lives crossed for a reason. I don’t know if you learnt anything from me. I learnt from your touch, I learnt from your kisses. I learnt from your hands and your skin and your eyes. And I learnt from your cruel silence. I learnt about my love and about myself, about my beauty and my strength.

My beauty and my strength.

And I have to let you go. You filled me, over the brim. You destroyed me. You burned me. And you gave me life. God bless you for what you were in my life. For the door you opened to love and pain and fear, for you have made me human.
You taught me. You loved me. And you gave the woman to me.
The cycle’s complete, this love is finished. And I will love you forever.

Concierto a dos voces

I can’t believe you did it again.

Did what?

You cried again.

I felt sad.

But surely, you should have learnt the lesson by now.

What lesson is that?

I don’t know, for one, you shouldn’t have expected him to love you. People can’t see who you are. Most of them don’t care. You spend too long living inside yourself, how can you tell what it is like on the outside? How do people see you?

Is that all?

Yes, to begin with.

I am tired of your cruelty. It’s worn out now, you know. Do you not fancy a bit of love?

Remember what it was like when we opened up? How our heart was broken?

But we learnt ho to love, that we are capable of loving.

What for? Loving has always been useless for us. I shouldn’t have listened to you.

But you did. Why did you?

Because I needed to be loved too.

Why did you let him walk away? We love him.

He left us. He went away. He thanked us and left. You gave him everything.

While you only closed your eyes.

I didn’t. I shut my mouth. You knew where it was heading. You knew that what was left from out heart would be broken.

You closed your eyes.

I did not. I did not let you enjoy it.

Why? It was love.

It was wrong. It was a lie. He felt nothing for us.

But he did. I saw it in his eyes.

Where is he now? He never tried to come back.

We hurt him.

He hurt us more.

We said goodbye to him and we still love him.

Oh please, understand thiss, once and for all: he doesn’t love us. He said it himself: he’s greedy and selfish. He’s weak. And his weakness was not leaving us.

He was never going to do it.

I don’t know hot to protect us any longer. I don’t know how to mend this heart. I am afraid. I don’t know if I should listen to you again. You let this happen to us. You let him steal everything we had.

I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I am so sorry.

Please, don’t cry anymore. Don’t hurt anymore. Please don’t hurt anymore. You always knew this would pass.  Trust me.

I know. “That went by, so can this”

Ðæs ofereode ðisses swa mæg

Awakening

What do I say to you now? I was stupid, I was rude, I never talked to you enough and now I can’t. I look back: I let almost thirty years go by. What use is love, if love can’t save you? What use is love if I can’t do anything for you anymore. I can’t soothe your pain. I can only hold  your hand. I can’t believe my eyes can still cry. I don’t understand life. I don’t understand pain. I don’t understand anything at all.

What do I cry for? What do I laugh for? What do I love for? It will be over all the same.

Wake up, get up. Let’s go out for a walk. There is a park near here. I want to show you the trees, can you feel the wind? Hold my hand, I’ll lead the way. Feel the grass under your feet. Smell the flowers, smell the breeze, feel it tousle your hair.

You don’t listen to me anymore. Look at me and don’t understand. I can’t ease your pain or your discomfort. I can’t do anything but look at how it all ends. I stand there, in the middle of nowhere, staring, helpless.

I am afraid. I am afraid of seeing you suffer. I am afraid of being selfish for not wanting to see you suffer. I am afraid of crying my life away. I am afraid of letting you go. I am afraid of life without you.

I am afraid of my life right now. Everything’s out of control. I just cannot see where I’m walking. My heart is broken, but I can’t tell you this. I try to gather the pieces and start afresh but I can’t. The wind keeps blowing them away. Do you understand? My heart is broken and I am afraid, I am tired and can’t see through the fog, the tears.

My heart is broken.

But life is also good to me. I can’t understand, I don’t know what I have done to deserve so many people being good to me. How, like magic, everything is going my way. I say a word and the Universe gives me what I ask for.

But my heart, my heart is broken. That’s always been a problem, you know, though I never told you before. I’ve tried to harden up, to be brave, to stop the tears, I can’t. But I have to learn the lesson with you. I have to be strong, you mustn’t see me cry. I am learning, but it hurts.

You can’t hear me now. My words evaporate before they reach you. They disintegrate the moment I speak them.

But don’t be afraid. When you open your eyes I shall be there, standing next to you, holding your hand next to my heart.

Decision time or a blessing in disguise??

Ya regresé a México. Contrario a lo esperado, no lloré como Magdalena, mi propia hermana no podía creer que hubiera llorado tan poco. Si lloré, pero una parte de mí decía, “¿por qué lloras? Esto se tenía que terminar algún día. Y tú, con tus decisiones, contribuiste a que ese capítulo se cerrara totalmente”. Lo que me dio más tristeza fue dejar mi libertad, a la Patricia que construí allá y que acá no puede existir, y dejar a mis amigos. Esto último sí lo sentí como una ironía de la vida. Me pasé muchos meses sola sin tener un kindred spirit con quien poder platicar o reírme o hablar de sueños y proyectos y de los reveses de la vida. Y un loco día, en que debatía entre inscribirme a clases de flauta o clases de japonés (y me decidí por las últimas), tomé una decisión que significó para mí una última oportunidad de valorar de distinta manera lo que había estado viviendo en Inglaterra.

Londres es bellísimo, pero no es lo mismo la belleza de la piedra que la belleza del calor humano. En muy poco tiempo pude hacer amigos sinceros, que pudieron apreciar las cosas que traigo dentro y que soy. Amigos que me van a extrañar a pesar del escaso contacto y a los que extrañaré porque me enseñaron muchas cosas. No me entristece, después de todo, estar lejos de ellos. Porque no los he perdido y sé que los volveré a ver. Porque no los he perdido, y mil veces prefiero el dolor de una separación que no haberlos conocido nunca.

Releo esto último y no, no soy masoquista… pero al crecer he ido aprendiendo sobre la función que tiene el dolor en la vida. Y sé que la ausencia de dolor significa vacío. Y de entre las lágrimas siempre nace una sonrisa.

Ya regresé a México. Y decidí no irme a España en octubre. Decidí quedarme y ponerme a trabajar muy duro en darle a mi futuro un giro distinto. No quiero volver al nido donde estaba, ese es el peligro, pero he decidido tomar el riesgo. Algo me dice que tomé la decisión correcta, y sí tengo miedo, pero también he aprendido a ser fuerte.

Sólo espero que todo salga bien. Lo merezco.