Tom Kessler - Nuevo Valso (2019)

Tom hitched a ride to the port. He got out, said thank you and found something to eat at a cafe on the main square. Everyone was playing games. There were card games, ball games and clapping games where rhythms passed around. In the center was a statue of two fishermen. They cast nets at night from the riverbank while singing softly to the moon, so goes the story, for a blessing. The day faded. Streets were swept, flowers hung and a band arrived. People appeared in traditional clothes and the dance began. A bell rang from a passing ship. A dog chased a rock. Some kids jumped off a bench. Every movement was part of another. The last song was about a boy who sailed around the cape on a morning like this morning and never returned. Tom watched it all. The band packed up and the dancers lingered, talking about the moon and the fall, sharing a drink made from red flowers. In the morning, Tom decided to keep going. He walked to the pier and crossed the river on a ferry, humming a song he heard the night before.