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Written by Almijara Barbero Carvajal and translated by Christopher Yates. Read the original in Spanish.

To wait and wait and wait
for each one to return to its place,
for the shadow that lifted the shadow of a cup
to spread its arms, demanding more and that the cup keeps turning,
for the mouths that spilled the wine to breathe its breath
But – silence!
Something rises.
Silence!
Something returns to its seat,
the shadow of the arm of the fork I held:
“...because a society that has not learned to close its eyes to the war,
is not ready for naked bodies.”
Judgment.
Then the shining of eyes,
laughter, footsteps, drums and horns
the moon in motion!
someone caught the moon in motion!
that eternity has chosen us
that the cup keeps turning, that the world stops,
and that absolutely nothing disturbs the peace of this night,
in which the shadows of a moment have met
to wait and wait and wait!



Almijara Barbero Carvajal was born in Motril (Spain) and is still trying to figure out how to become real. Her short stories have appeared in the anthology Alucinadas II and in MaMut Magazine.
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5 Oct 2026

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