Caviar, Champagne, and Fantasy by Arménio Vieira

The Esplanada in Praia, on Santiago de
[Cabo Verde
on January 29th, 1971
is a sketch for a hydrogen bomb
with no frequency calculations
it’s a moon-bound
[rocket
that never takes off
(all that’s left is a crumpled
blueprint for a launch pad)

The Esplanada in Praia—even on days of
[sun and sweat
could be a cool oasis
if our faith (which moves mountains)
were one millionth of a mustard grain.

Coffee would abound
without the need to plant a single seed
in the manager’s ear as he comes and goes
tallying the day’s proceeds.

The Esplanada would boast whiter milk
and stylish shoppers and pretty maids
and limit the
[legions of beggars
hunting cigarette butts
and of course there would be a clinic nearby
with cures for everything (even the
[untreatable)

The Esplanada would have a helicopter for
[its beloved poets
and the nearby fountain would not have gone dry

And there would be white swans gliding by at all
[hours
and even a hanging garden
with hothouse tulips and sunflowers

The Esplanada would boast jet planes so close
[you could touch them

there—on the bandstand—
where only musicians and drummers linger
dreaming of fifty mil-réis per week

The Esplanada, thick with the scent of fragrant
[DDT
and even with a cathedral designed by Oscar
[Niemeyer
(so unlike the tiny church there now
with its four square walls
and archaic cross)

The Esplanada in Praia would be a wonder
[of the world
a pristine, embroidered canopy
refracting the stars

The Esplanada, at last, would have another name
—Morabeza is a term no doubt
[invented
to sit limp like a glove or an idiot toad
(I can see him now, on his branch,
[dirtying the tank)

Given what’s been said
and what hasn’t—
perhaps it would be best just to die right here and now
rather than celebrate my three decades
[of life
dreaming of champagne and caviar
on Praia’s Esplanada in Santiago de
[Cabo Verde
on the 29th of January, 1971.