In the Third Sleep

Beatriz Hausner

(after Kay Sage) 

                                              

In my dream I see myself wandering 

inside the third sleep, its soft surfaces

are a skin covering the still body of night

illuminated by the moon, now full and bright

behind the curtains that conceal it. 

 

Your ghost approaches, its presence visible

to me only, standing behind the rigid sails

of the enormous nave now stranded in the Atacama

desert. "The stillness is about to brake,” 

I hear a voice say. I realize then that

I am not alone. I walk into the longest shadow

and feel myself in embrace with your absence.

 

“All is well,” I say, “go ahead, break the spell,

for I have accepted your nonattendance.”

 

As I turn my gaze towards the horizon, I feel

a strong gale pushing the entirety of the space 

forward, away from stasis, into motion and light.

 

February 8, 2026, in San Andrés Huayapan, Oaxaca.