POETRY | HUMOR
The Strangest Mourner
A Brazilian joke in rhymes
A young widow visits
The old cemetery
And stands by the grave
Where her husband’s buried
For just a few minutes
But every day
She pays him her tributes
The strangest of ways:
Without much distress
For motives unknown
She lifts up her dress
And pees on his stone
The gravedigger watches
Intrigued from a distance
For days on end the
Odd ritual of grievance
Till he has to ask
With all due respect
“What’s the reason for
the novelty act?”
The widow stands up
And pulls up her thong
“Oh pardon me, mister
Please don’t get me wrong
We each have our unique
way of showing grief
I weep from the place
that gives me most relief”
“Cada um chora por onde sente saudade” is the punchline of this Brazilian joke. It means that each person cries from where they “miss” or “feel the longing for” the other person the most.
Credits to Joe Váradi for giving me a hand with the translation and thanks to Laura Sheridan for the insights.
