Two young boys throwing pebbles in the sand.
Cross-legged they sit, lost in concentration
As old men might with dominoes and ale – but
Different in the dreaming, not remembering.
The sand, in fact, makes do where tarmac once
Lay smooth before this “model” town was lost to
Urban deprivation and decay: a people’s spirits
Crushed between the war-lords, barons and police.
Intent these two, as if upon their skin-tight shoulders
Lies the future of the globe. Amid the fading sunshine
Of the afternoon, and gathering dusk, they make of sand
And stone, of laughter and of frowns, their other world.
To adult eyes the shabby street, for such it seems,
Descends through purpling twilight into fearful night.
Not so for these young friends – imagining tomorrow.
In vibrant play, in friendship and in unencumbered hope
They are the urban prophets –
They proclaim the building of the Cidade de Deus.
After observing a street scene in the Cidade de Deus – the City of God –
A notorious slum on the western edge of Rio de Janeiro
October 2011
