A primeira vez que vi Paris
Já nessa esquina, apoiada no muro da Cruz Vermelha francesa, estava essa velha, tão velha quanto Paris, o ser humano mais velho, torpe e feio que vi em Paris durante nove semanas inteiras, cuja pele era como Notre Dame e os cabelos, grisalhos, sebentos e emaranhados, lembrando um ninho de pombos, e um vestido de algodão que você encontraria em barracões abandonados no Texas Oriental, algo que usariam para tapar um vazamento debaixo da pia... e os tornozelos, roliços como dois postes, inchados, brancos como peixes, jogados em trapos de couro chamados sapatos, e ela chorava com o rosto na dobra do cotovelo, soluçando – um rio de lágrimas de meu filho morreu, ou meu marido, eles o levaram para sempre e eu agora estou sozinha –, algo tão comovente que eu parei e fiquei olhando, sentindo que devia fazer algo, mas o quê?
John Fante
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