Joan Margarit

The poet’s daughter, Joana, suffered from Rubinstein-Taybe syndrome, a mental
condition which also involves severe physical problems, especially motor difficulties which compelled her to use crutches or a wheelchair. She understood that her well-being depended on the affection of those around her and she learned very early on that affection breeds more affection. But the poet came to understand all this slowly and with difficulty, over a period of many years, and so Dark Night in Balmes Street, a poem set around the time of Joana’s birth in 1970, reveals how badly prepared the poet was for this grief. The poem narrates and assesses facts he could not confront poetically (that is to say, in reality) until much later.

Thirty years after the night the poem discusses, the story came to a close with the last eight months of her life, which are the theme of the book, Joana. Her parents’ anguish always led them to picture their daughter’s defencelessness once they themselves had disappeared. As far as the poet is concerned, he does not know whether he is a better or worse person, but what he is convinced of is that, if he had not had Joana’s constant company for those thirty years, he would be a lot worse. This is the theme of the poem, The eyes in the rear-view mirror, which celebrates the shining qualities of that girl.