Trafika Europe 3 - Latvian Sojourn

After that came a flock of relatives and a phlegmatic priest. The greatest friends swayed, catching the wind, and sang a quiet song to Francis and John. The greatest friends attracted birds and, stroking their wings, wished them a new and different life. The shroud of branches did not make a photographic impression on the sand that filled the hole and became a patch in the brighter land. And the fat cupolas of churches with their crosses said farewell: be safe and sound! One couldn’t complain of silence at the funeral banquet. Sensible pans and panni. Pan Jurski, who repeated the same words over and over all evening, turning to the brothers: “Don’t be upset, eventually we’ll all be part of such wood furniture and will be looking good . . . Francis, head up and smile!” Panni Maskovska smelt of sprats and garlic. When she kissed the brothers, she usually slimed their cheeks, arousing disgust in the boys. The greatest relic – a ring of brilliants – father had left to his youthful love panni Gzhibovska, now a fat withered beauty, her clothes smelt of naphthalene. Later Francis and John went out looking for friends. The boys didn’t sense yet that the friends had waved goodbye, that they were still wafted by the wind, which dashed papers into gutters. Shops, advertising, houses of stone,

47