Un Cura de Aldea

He has an old cassock
and a very worn-out biretta.
He has a rosary with
wooden beads and a breviary
that he prays every day
when the sun is setting
in golden twilight
or in misty twilight.

He works saying mass
when he finishes the rosary,
at night he plays cards
and in bed he prays to the saint
and leaning on the corridor
the poor man stands
thinking if his life
will not be a failure.

The stone church
is at the highest point of the village
and it's a joy to hear the bells
ringing in the bell tower.
And near the church
the good priest has his little house
filled with the worries
that life keeps spinning.

In the mornings the mass
when he finishes the rosary,
like a blessed effort
made of prayers and songs,
and on the way back to the tavern
he already knows his failure
if at night he returns home
slowly step by step.