It was on one of my voyages . . .
High sea, and the moon was out . . .
The evening hubbub aboard ship had quieted.
One by one, group by group, the passengers retired.
The band was just furniture that for some reason had remained in a corner.
Only in the smoking lounge did a chess game silently continue.
Life droned through the open door of the engine room.
Alone . . . A naked soul face-to-face with the universe!
(O town of my birth in faraway Portugal!
Why didn't I die as a child, when all I knew was you?)