Architecture

Not long ago I made a brief mention of Paco Ruiz Noguera's most recent poetry collection, Arquitectura efímera. A few weeks ago Soler reviewed the book in his weekly article for Sur. I missed it then, but he mentioned it last night and so I just read it. Excellent. In these articles Antonio is masterful at capturing the essence of things in very short order. And in just two sentences he gets at the core of Paco's character, recalling, on the one hand, that Rafael called him "Paquito", and on the other observing that he was probably the most sensible person among the Bilmore group. True! Here's an improvised try at some of the book's initial verses, from a short poem titled "Purpose": "Hold on to life / as in empty days / you hold with your gaze / a touch of blue / shining through the mist." The varied rituals of holding on are often lived with desengaño, disillusion, and even touches of bitterness. Sometimes it's all we can do, just hold on. And share it. The horizon is silent and uninterested in us. And there is tedium. The signs are dark. We build what we can, ephemerally.