Picasso: I the King, Yo el rey
In the Mist of Aftershocks
8:55 p.m., Christmas 1884
¡Triquitraque-triqueteaque-triquitraque!
Mama's eyes open to perfect circles.
¡Tan! ¡Tan! ¡Tan! tolled the church bells.
E-a-r-t-h-q-u-a-k-e!
Papa flings his cape over his shoulders,
bundles Pablo in its folds.
Out! Out! Out!
People in the streets screaming,
streaming like river running over its bank.
Houses crumble.
Papa hurries his family
to an artist's stone house.
Three days later, in the mist of the aftershocks,
Lola is born.
Pablo clings to Papa.
Pablo has been dethrone.