On day in a restaurant, outside of space and time,
I was served up love as a dish of cold tripe.
I politely told the missionary of the kitchen
That I preferred it hot,
Because tripe (and it was Oporto-style) is never eaten cold.

They got impatient with me.
You can never be right, even in a restaurant.
I didn't eat it, I ordered nothing else, I paid the bill,
And I decided to take a walk down the street.

Who knows what this might mean?
I don't know, and it happened to me . . .

(I know very well that in everyone's childhood there was a garden,
Private or public, or belonging to the neighbor.
I know very well that our playing was the owner of it
And that sadness belongs to today.)

I know this many times over
But if I asked for love, why did they bring me
Oporto-style tripe that was cold?
It is not a dish that can be eaten cold,
But they served it to me cold.
I didn't make a fuss, but it was cold.
It can never be eaten cold, but it came cold.