AUTUMN IN CHUECA

Autumn in Chueca
Azul skies
Light the square below
Where homeless gather 
Amidst swathes
of raucous laughter
As if all cares
Had slipped down
The nearby metro stairwell.
Some smoke...
Some slap backs
One massages a beggar lady's neck
Like ancient lovers.
Others sell tissues
Amongst ballerina pigeons
Pecking for peace beneath tapas laden tables.
All life really is here.
Old men with leather-like, baked-on skin,
Lean, as if life is forever, on sticks
Passing the day, the time
With cigars, memories and wine.

And I sit in the sun
Like a Caesar
Assessing a campaign-
Where to turn next
What path to forge
How next to put pen to paper
To picture for my lover
This fragrant land
Of  Moorish memories,
Liberated love, candid care.
A thousand years
Distilled
Into this

One

Square.