CANDY Poem by Adília Lopes

She dropped the photograph
and when a stranger ran up from behind
to give it to her
she refused to touch it
but you dropped it miss
I couldn't have dropped it
because it isn't mine
she didn't want anyone
and especially not a stranger
to suspect there was any relation
between her and the photograph
it was as if she'd dropped
a blood-soaked handkerchief
because she was the one in the photograph
and nothing belongs to us more than blood
which is why when someone pricks their finger
they stick it right in their mouth to suck the blood
the stranger understood
it's a picture of you miss
it may be a picture of someone who looks just like me
but it isn't me
the stranger was a kind person
he didn't insist
and since he knew beggars
don't have money for taking pictures
he gave the photograph to a beggar
who ate it up like candy