Ciudad Abierta, Valparaiso

November 2017

 

I

there are hardly any streets

- paved, with houses

on each side -

there is sand

there are paths

there are objects

constructs in the hills

poles in the grass

with colour.

 

II

there are houses that bend and turn and grow

where sand flows under the legs

of the building's body

a children's swing below

there is no central square

but there are poles somewhere

in the dunes, or a series

of curved walls

in a field

to gather

 

 

III

there is no rush

there is the day that passes

the shadows that slowly change

the people that come

and talk

and build

and eat

and meet.

 

 

IV

the city is built on the land by hand

it is not urban, but as intense

in that it grows

within the land

in dialogue.

and in that, only in that

it is a city

in that it speaks.

This is one of a series of poems I wrote in "poets' cabin" of the Ciudad Abierta, the "Open City" of the school of architecture, Valparaiso, Chile

text & photo's kmh nov 2017