It feels strange.
A disturbance in the aura, like a gust of time.
An ethereal weight, impossible to be measured in units of mass like grams or ounces.
I was transported to the forge, to the incandescent metal, the heat of the foundry, the hammering of the anvil. Then, the murmur of merchants, the bustle of amphitheaters, hidden treasures.
It happened last Sunday.
My son led me to his office, where we are greeted by a bust of the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Gaius Caesar Augustus (Augustus for the family), who, depending on the occasion, wears a cowboy, Halloween or a Santa Claus hat.
Santiago wanted to show me some new acquisitions from his collection of Roman coins, a hobby that has accompanied him since he was a child.
He spread them out before me with pride and exalted enthusiasm.
He placed them on my hand while he told me the story of each one.
Vespasian, Justinian, Constantine, Claudius, Augustus.
Silver Denarius and Sestertius, bronze Dupondius. No Aureus, one of the few coins made of gold and the most valuable that circulated in the Roman Empire.
Thousands of years passed by the palm of my hands before my astonished gaze.
I think that for the first time I understood the fascination of the numismatist and collectors in general.
I took a coin that, according to my son, was one of the oldest, 27 BC, precisely from the time of Augustus, also known as Octavian. I squeezed it in my fist while closing my eyes.
I escaped in time.
When I opened my eyes, I met the severe gaze of the sculpture of Augustus. I heard him murmur to me:
– Please take off this ridiculous pumpkin hat.
So did I. Santiago looked at me surprised. Augustus gave me a smile.
The coins went back to their respective albums.
I returned to MMXXIV Anno Domini.
Leonor Henríquez (Caracas, Venezuela) Civil Engineer by training (UCAB 1985), writer and apprentice poet by vocation. From her time in engineering emerged her Office Stories (1997), another way of seeing the corporate world. Her latest publications include reflections on grief, Hopecrumbs (2020) (www.hopecrumbs.com) and “The Adventures of Chispita” (2021) (www.chispita.ca) an allegory of life inside Mom’s belly.
Today she shares her “impulsive meditations” from Calgary, Canada, where she lives.
leonorcanada@gmail.com