Midday Cowboy (Vaquero del mediodía)

MY FLAME KNOWS HOW TO SWIM IN COLD WATER AND HOW TO LOSE RESPECT FOR HARSH LAWS

MISSING POET FAIR SKIN - 53 YEARS OLD - INFORMATION

People tried to find me too.

My people looked for me

for eight years.

They knew nothing about me for eight years.

Do you know how long Samuel has been missing?

-Tell me. -The man I mentioned.

-Tell me. -Eight years too.

Some people told me, "Stop looking, man, you won't find him."

-No, man, of course you can find him. -What do you think?

You know, I managed to stay under the radar

for almost 16 years.

But now they know I'm alive.

ANNEX …FOR DATA COLLECTION…

I came to file a missing person's report, a friend of mine's missing.

-What's your name? -Diego Osorno.

I've been looking for him by my own means. I'm a journalist.

MISSING POET

I even hired a detective.

Honestly, this doesn't look like a detective's office.

PRIVATE DETECTIVE

That's what most of my clients say.

I'd like you to help me,

I'm looking for this poet…

His name is Samuel David Noyola García.

He was born on 8th February, 1964.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

-Do you know his marital status? -He's single.

I don't fully trust the work of the DA's office.

I'm under the impression that they'll only look for a dead body,

they won't look for him alive.

-I mean, he could be alive. -Yes, of course.

Sorry, how old would he be now?

He'd be 53, right? Yeah.

Was he your friend?

-Yes. -Okay.

I met him after a poetry reading

by José Emilio Pacheco at Casa Magna.

I used to be a poet too.

A lousy, immature poet.

When I met him, I realized I had no talent whatsoever for poetry

because he is a truly amazing poet.

How long has he been missing?

About eight years.

Eight years. Do you have any more data? What did you find out?

He lived on the streets sometimes.

He decided not to have a home.

It's not that he didn't have a place to stay,

but he didn't want to stay in one place

because he thought that went against his vision

of poetry and life.

His only guiding light was Nobel prizewinner Octavio Paz,

but, apart from him, he refused to be subdued by any group or person.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR READING THESE LINES.

Okay. I think the posters are a good idea.

We'll put them on the walls, we'll look for him here and in Mexico City.

I have the feeling that he wanted to get lost.

He might come back on his own, we don't know.

That's what poets are like.

Does he have any nicknames?

Some poets used to call him "Midday Cowboy."

We're looking for this man.

We were told he used to work around here, outside this bar.

I remember when his book came out. It was an astonishing moment.

WRITER AND FRIEND

You felt you were in the presence of a poet.

I went to the store to buy credit for my phone

and I saw him sitting outside, but he seemed lost…

-Did he? -He was out of it.

-What is his name? -Samuel Noyola.

His face looks familiar. Some time ago, I used to get drunk a lot.

Our main concern is to find out if he's alive.

"Like a bee in heat, I fluttered around

towards the loneliness of a darker garden."

"I fell for so long, until vertigo made a martyr of me."

"And then I got lost forever in the heart attack that love is."

-Did you like it? -Yeah, it's quite cool.

One more?

He has a gift. I mean, it's a gift from God, right?

Either you have it or you don't.

That man's a good writer because there are…

many things in there that make you think.

Many things that you can't even describe.

Very cool. I hope you'll find him.

Someone who looks similar to him passed by 15 days ago.

-Right. -He's always barefoot,

but that time he was wearing plastic bags on his feet.

This man thinks he might be Samuel.

Yeah, he might be wandering around here.

Suddenly, he started reciting

the fifth canto of The Divine Comedy in Italian.

WRITER AND FRIEND

The whole thing.

So I told him, "Samuel, you speak Italian!"

"No," he answered, "I just know Dante's work."

-He's not here now. -That bastard…

That is another one, but he's bad-tempered.

To me, what's most fascinating about Samuel

is neither the fact that we can't find him nor the life he led.

To me, what's most fascinating about Samuel is his poetry.

Where are you from?

From here. I'm from here.

Are you using the past tense because you haven't seen him

in a long time,

or because you think, like many others, that he's dead?

Well, the last time I saw him, he was lying on the street…

We were told he usually roams around here.

-Maybe you saw him? -Have a good look at it.

He was a poet.

-Well, he is a poet. -His name's Samuel.

He was wearing rags. He was so filthy.

His nails were pitch black, he had no teeth…

his hair was completely matted. He was half asleep, half drunk…

I saw death in him then, to be honest.

"Death is drunk and runs aground at 7:19 a.m."

POET

Not only will we get life drunk.

We'll get death drunk too.

I don't think he goes to bars. Does he drink?

It's a possibility. We've been looking for him in some bars too.

Damn…

As any other nomad, Samuel lived at everyone's home.

POET AND FRIEND

Everywhere but with you two

because your wife wouldn't allow it.

In your case, your sisters wouldn't allow it.

Anyone who tells you, "He lived with me," don't believe them.

He slept wherever night overtook him.

What I first heard about him was…

JOURNALIST AND CRITIC

…that he was very interested in poetry

and that he had an extraordinary memory.

This portrait…

No, brother.

We're talking about 1982. How old was Samuel then?

-Was he… 19 years old? -He was 19.

Samuel was…

well, part of our family.

There's a man here who really looks like this dude, yeah,

he wears cargo pants.

Yeah, cargo pants. And he's thin.

He has a really small waist.

You can see this dude is hiding something,

he has a look as if he were mocking someone.

What we could see in Samuel from the very beginning

was that he was…

POET AND FRIEND

…very, very well read.

That dude doesn't come from the streets.

You can see this guy has the evil inside of him.

He's doing bad deeds, you can see it in his eyes.

You can see evil in his eyes.

I mean, he seems very focused on doing something.

He's very focused on doing something to mess with someone.

CASE REPORT DISAPPEARANCE - REPORT DATE

He's a poet.

Oh, man…

I think Samuel worked on his verses…

by mapping them.

I've seen that dude.

There are so many men there, man…

When he suddenly finished two or three verses,

he would repeat them to you two, three, many times.

STIRRED UP BY THE FIRE OF A BEER, I WRITE

And then he chained them together.

-No… -He looks like someone I know.

He looks like the guy nicknamed Barrio.

He looks like Barrio.

POET AND FRIEND

He was influenced by the poets from the Spanish Golden Age…

-Yes. -…who were

precise in the sound and meter of their poems.

I WRITE THIS POEM WITHOUT A GUARDIAN MUSE

TRUSTING THAT INSPIRATION IS A THING OF THE PAST,

STIRRED UP BY THE FIRE OF A BEER, I WRITE FOR A NAMELESS MUSE

We use many… Excuse me.

We use many nicknames around here.

Barrio, with all due respect,

looks very similar to that person you're looking for.

…at that corner, over there.

-Around that corner. -Wait. If you want, we can go there.

-Let's go, yeah. -I can go with you.

Samuel was a wild artist.

Excuse me.

He was like a bundle of instincts

walking around the street.

Is he a college graduate or…?

Well, he's a poet. He… reads a lot.

Oh, yeah, that's the guy!

Because Barrio's always "poeting" me.

He never had a proper trade,

a normal way to earn his living.

What do you mean by "poeting"?

Well, he's always telling me stuff like, "Baby, honey, you're so fine."

That man is quite a poet. My respects to him.

He's had many girlfriends.

Of course! With the loquacity of a poet, who wouldn't fall at his feet?

I know some women who were very beautiful at the time

and who were Samuel's girlfriends, at least for two or three days.