Intro

When Machado died, according to Matea Monedero, “they had to take away the body by lifting it over the bed where mother Ana lay unconscious”. The poet was laid out for mourning in the next room. “Later he was shrouded in a bed sheet because that’s how José wanted it based on his interpretation of something Antonio said one day when speaking of the unnecessary pomp of some burials: ‘In order to bury a person, it is enough to wrap the body in a sheet’”.

“They had barely removed Antonio’s body”, continued Matea, “and although it may seem incredible, mother Ana became aware for a few moments. As soon as she came to, she looked toward Antonio’s bed and asked in a weak and distressed voice, as if nature had informed her of what had happened: ‘Is Antonio here? What has happened?’, and José, controlling himself as best as he could, lied to her, saying that she already knew that Antonio was sick and that they had taken him to a hospital. ‘He’ll get better there’, he said. I remember that mother Ana gave him a look that one could tell meant that she did not believe a single word he said. Then she closed her eyes and three days later she was dead. I am sure that in those three minutes of consciousness she realized that her son had died.

José was also sure that Antonio had died (although he places the “moment of awareness” two days later). “What happened? What happened?”, the mother would ask when seeing Antonio’s empty bed. And José wrote: “I tried in vain to hide it from her. But you can never trick a mother, and she broke into tears like a poor little girl”. (…)