#poem, «Night Walks»

NIGHT WALKS
(Inspired by Julie Sopetran’s poem “A veces trasnochamos”

There are times,
I know you know,
when we wonder far from sleep
thinking of those
who were never ours to keep.

There are times,
I know you’ve felt them,
when a million thorns have pierced our flesh,
and days seem like eternities,
yet we’ve no time to heal the wounds.

There are times,
I know this you’ve experienced,
when we seem to float high above the night,
a moonbeam bright captures our form
and we form a twisted shadow on the earth,
and reality laughs far below us.

We have no body to return to,
I’m sure that you have felt this too,
a silky mist covers our eyes,
within it something takes our hand and leads us
to the street of lonely hearts,
where we try on someone’s skin and someone’s smile
and attempt to create a human face.

Laughing we dance a lively pas de deux,
with eyes closed not to perceive each other,
and mind closed to pretend
the world’s not burning.

And as we begin to drown in the night’s warm waters,
waters that taste like stale champagne,
I know you have often wondered,
who killed the beauty
of being loved?

Sometimes we linger on,
I’m sure you’ve been there,
feeling liminal,
abandoned, lost,
smiling semi-sweetly
and as silent as a meteor.

Those are the times when we walk in the night.

Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 22 OCT 2025 – Valencia, España

Author’s Note
This poem was born from sleepless hours, and from the tender ache of being unseen, and from the beauty that survives even in solitude. Inspired by the work of a most phenomenal poet, who I admire greatly, Julie Sopetrán. Her poem “A veces trasnochamos” inspired me to write “Night Walks».

CHEERS