ORIGINS: The word for earthquake (LURRIKARA) made us think of faces on the ground. It made us think of the shapes that appear in the aftermath of an earthquake, when the cracks and fissures connect.
I may be a bird, but I am not an angel. I know how the ground feels under my feet. Every time I sing, there is an earthquake. I have been told that I am too selfish to do anyone else’s bidding. That I am too selfish to be anywhere but on the spotlight. Maybe that is why the earth decided to sing the chorus for me. Maybe that is why it shattered, letting its darkness out. So that I could have a backdrop, that would let me really stand out. And I could keep being this selfish bird, that you let me become.
I don’t understand why people like to dream about flying so much. It’s just a repetitive, meaningless movement. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Those wings don’t even get to touch the sky. Singing, on the other hand, at least lets me touch someone’s heart. In an earth-shattering way. That’s why I don’t waste my time dreaming. That’s why I will never sing of the freedom or the hope of a bird’s flight. Because the sky is hollow, and it has nothing to give. I prefer earthquakes, because there isn’t a part of me left untouched, unmoved.
Every time there was an earthquake, my brother and I would play a game. when the shouting started, we stood behind the closed door. We stood there, with our ears to the door, listening to everything. Every cruel word. Every reproach. Every wish. And the first one to crumple lost. I never lost a game. Never. I listened to everything. And in the aftermath, I never shed a single tear.
You can’t blame me for following my dreams. I was a naive child, I was a blind mole. You told me to follow the brightest star, and that is what I did. I dug countless tunnels, undergrown. In the dark. Where even I would be able to see the light of my star. I did what you told me to do. If there was an earthquake, and you lost something precious. If the shape of your world changed, you can’t blame me for that.