{"id":265,"date":"2020-01-27T14:23:07","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T14:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=265"},"modified":"2020-05-29T12:52:25","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T12:52:25","slug":"saudade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/saudade\/265\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/
Saudade <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I first met Jose Luis Vercas on the concrete apron jutting out into the mouth of the Targus where the splendour of the Manueline Port of Lisboa ends and a wide expanse of river divides the city from Alc\u00e2ntara. He was short, but well-muscled and possessed of that curiously Portuguese combination of a mane of swept-back, black and wavy hair; and a forehead so high it begged to be labelled, \u201cdomed\u201d. He said he too was a teacher, but offered no hint of subject or at what level he taught and, to be frank, my interest did not extend that far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you have it?\u201d I asked in my formal Portuguese. He smiled\nand nodded \u2013 a slight movement of his head, causing a lock of stray hair to\nstruggle free. Patting his messenger bag, he said in accent-free English, \u201cIt\u2019s\nhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me see,\u201d I urged. I could feel my excitement rising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProverbs 31:10\u201d, he smiled, revealing tobacco stained\nteeth. He stood close, his hand clutching the lip of his bag\u2019s flap and I could\nsmell his habit on his breath. I understood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have the money,\u201d I replied and mirrored his actions by\nplacing my hand on my bag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet us walk, Senhor Carrickfergus\u201d, he said, the first hint\nof faulty pronunciation evident in a terminal \u201cshh\u201d as he said my name. \u201cIt is\ntoo public here.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVamos,\u201d I responded, \u201cMas para onde iremos?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a caf\u00e9 I know in The Chiado\u201d, he responded, \u201cWe\u2019ll\nbe safe there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked along the Rua do Alecrim stopping to gaze into\nwindows and light cigarettes in doorways. Twice we doubled back, and\ncriss-crossed the road, dodging kamikaze scooter riders, until we emerged\nopposite the fa\u00e7ade of the Caf\u00e9 A Brasileira, the statue of Fernando Pessoa in\nhis usual place, sipping his usual coffee and thinking his usual great\nthoughts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA good choice,\u201d I murmured: Pessoa is my favourite\nPortuguese poet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought you would like it. Let\u2019s sit.\u201d He indicated a\npair of white metal-framed chairs. We sat, we talked inconsequentially, and\ndrank coffee appreciatively until our options narrowed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, the diamonds.\u201d He said. \u201cOr Euros, I don\u2019t care which.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reached into my bag, removed a packet, and pushed it across\nthe table. He flipped it open, peered inside and smiled his toothy, tobacco\nsmile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat will do nicely,\u201d he said, \u201cAs you English say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that moment, three tall, dark-clad figures approached us rapidly, but silently, their hands clutching the butts of holstered pistols. The lead figure flashed a badge and said, \u201c Jose Luis Vercas, please come with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vercas was like a fluid in motion, leaping from his chair, three swift strides across the concourse and on to the back of a waiting scooter, which sped off down the Rua Garret. Before he disappeared, he turned and our eyes met. He shrugged and I knew I had lost it forever. My loss immeasurable, my hopes dashed and my desire unfulfilled. A hand touched my shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first met Jose Luis Vercas on the concrete apron jutting out into the mouth of the Targus where the splendour of the Manueline Port of Lisboa ends and a wide expanse of river divides the city from Alc\u00e2ntara. He was short, but well-muscled and possessed of that curiously Portuguese combination of a mane of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[121,164],"tags":[165,114,177,8,20,167,12,176,9,178,11],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-121","category-desire","tag-bag","tag-but","tag-desire","tag-he","tag-his","tag-into","tag-my","tag-portugal","tag-said","tag-saudade","tag-was"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sbrNJE-saudade","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}