From Bordertown No. 2. Mujer: Songs of the Spanish Diaspora

Story by Lorena Cañon
Translated by Lorena Cañon and Christian Griffiths

Have you ever heard it said that love is stronger in the kiss that is never given? This is true, but not only in the kiss: it is also in the hug that you never felt, each glance that you never noticed, but which is yours nonetheless, each smile that you did not inspire, and each kind word that you never heard.

I believe in a love that is greater than that which is delivered. It feeds itself silently, searching for the faintest sign that it should give all, and show what true love is. It gives, and asks for nothing in return. It shows itself in actions, but it never needs to affirm that it acts out of love. It is unconditional, knowing that nothing is sure, and it can deliver all at a moment’s notice. It is nourished by an imagined destiny where love is returned.

And yes, because it is not returned, it can testify to the true nature of love. It is not like the reddest bud, which withers as soon as it blooms, nor the pendulum that must lose its momentum. The rosiest dawn lasts only a few minutes; the fullest moon lasts only a night. Stars quickly fall, and songs are not always real. Yet, a poem may be all the more beautiful because it tells a story that never happened.

It is thus that we pass our lives. We imagine moments, places and people that were never real, but which may be, and which survive only in our words.
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