RODRIGO VILLEGAS - THE OLD HOTEL - A portrait

THE OLD HOTEL – A portrait

 

Oh suffering silence

Oh emptiness of walls

So cold for sun to set upon

Eternal bleakness

Sullen chambers echo

Echoes of another world

And ladies going round with knowing

The dark skinned señorita

Center seated orchestrates

Baton in hand

Discordant fiddles seek their dismal pain

 

A bellhop made his final rounds

Echoes of another world

And ladies going round with knowing

The dark skinned señorita

Center seated orchestrates

Baton in hand

Discordant fiddles seek their dismal pain

 

A bellhop made his final rounds

The games played out in different rooms

They flowed while margaritas bloomed

What hides behind these secret walls?

What heavy drapes muffle in the murmurs more?

And dusty chandeliers ready for the fall

Vipers slither, tossed on tiles

And enter grey commodes

 <%ass="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">The games played out in different rooms

They flowed while margaritas bloomed

What hides behind these secret walls?

What heavy drapes muffle in the murmurs more?

And dusty chandeliers ready for the fall

Vipers slither, tossed on tiles

And enter grey commodes

 

Then a disembodied voice

Strained with urging

Hissed its desperate words to me

“Leave this place

Go this moment now

Before the first veneer rolls in

Upon the canvas and seals you fast within”

 

Then a disembodied voice

Strained with urging

Hissed its desperate words to me

“Leave this place

Go this moment now

Before the first veneer rolls in

Upon the canvas and seals you fast within”

 

And off I fled

Toward life, toward time, toward all

Where depth was mine

And quiet lofty clouds

And gratitude

Mine too, the slow gyration of the sun

A vibrant burst of rainbow

An arch melting into blueAnd off I fled

Toward life, toward time, toward all

Where depth was mine

And quiet lofty clouds

And gratitude

Mine too, the slow gyration of the sun

A vibrant burst of rainbow

An arch melting into blue

And I could walk upon the sand

And never did it seem so grand as now

And never did I feel so free!

No! Never did I feel so free!

 

Rodrigo Villegas