Posted by kabouter on September 03, 1999 at 18:13:31:
The sun went down slowly today. It burned brilliantly crimson until the last. The city has been bathed in light and heat all day and it has stretched out like a cat and soaked up that solar energy yawning and humming like cats do when they are very comfortable.
The city at night sprang into new life. The heat seeped up out of the bricks in the pavements and out of the solemn stones of the buildings. It crept noiselessly down the alleys, we call steegen and out into the squares. It shimmered in the water of the grachten as inebriate boats moved past sleepily.
The lights of the city seemed to sparkle tonight. I would have thought that the heat in the air would have dimmed them with haziness but they burned like crisp miniature stars in a myriad of sparkling colours.. the city was lit with fairy lights or so it seems like an out-of-season Christmas tree. There was gaiety abroad. Everywhere we went there seemed to be laughter floating out at us. Happy couples necked languidly in shop doorways. Children ran giggling through the crowds splendid in their summer finery.
I met Smurfie in the Leidseplein and we sat watching the boys as we do most nights when we are together. Hunger drove us both to the cafe on the corner where the glamorous young Surinamese waiter saw to our needs. Charmed us to unintelligibility with his flashing dark eyes his impossibly fine cheekbones and his lustrous blue black hair in a gentle long wave down his neck and shoulders. The young man, in his late teens or early twenties walked like a boy as he balanced his tray on one hand. His slim hipped figure wiggled very slightly as he weaved through the tables with the grace of his Aztec forebears and I think he knew that when he smiled impishly at us that both our hearts lept in unison. We tipped him well grateful for his boyish beauty and his charm that included us in his inner radiance.
We stayed there for too long of course. That much charm is entirely intoxicating. And of course he kept our glasses filled. The young Irish teen who works in the cafe next door has had a change of image. The fire engine red hair has gone like DG's tresses and now he has short dyed red stubble. The boy waiter with the grey eyes and the dancing smile threatening to seduce us away from our latin lovely. I joked at him about the hair-change and he grinned mischeivously. I reckon he mnakes most of his fashion decisions late at night in the bar! We felt entirely replete.
The boys were all over the city tonight. Boys everywhere. English boys, svelte Italian and Greek youths and buttercup yellow dutch blonds. Boys on skates and skateboards swooped and dived like swallows among the bicycle traffic. Boys who stopped next to our table to stare open-mouthed at the street performers almost unaware that we were then able to stare at them and drink in their youth and beauty. The old man in his sixties disrobed again and climbing the rope under the trees became a naked greek god up there in the night air. The russian quartet played enthusiastically, english pop songs on a ballalaika while the crowd clapped in unison. The strange haunting performance of the boy and girl inside the silver collapsible tubes enacting an elegant invertebrate dance of love - held us all spellbound.
We walked through the square to stretch our well-fed bodies. The pale young man balancing glass balls on his chest drew a large crowd in a tight circle around him. We gazed breathtaken at the two golden twin boys, probably 10 or eleven who watched him on skates and turned to one another showing us faces that were impossibly beautiful in a city full of beauty.
Smurfie felt the dull yank of tiredness after his 12 hour stint on the computers earlier today. Indeed with the competition of the boy talent it was hard to get his attention at times. "Pretend I am a computer" I laughed " Interact with me!" Smurfie threw his head back and guffawed and the boys stared at him wishing they could share the joke.
We had an emotional moment when we said goodbye. Smurfie thanked me for being his fri end and we embraced centre-stage in front of the cafe audience. Its so good to share fellowship with a brother boylover - to chat idly, laugh about funny things and enjoy the beauty of boys in harmony with one another.
I love Amsterdam with a real passion. I love Amsterdam on those ordinary nights when I am scurrying about to catch the shops before they shut. I love dodging in and out of the traffic, the trams that thunder down on the narrow rails desperately ringing their bells to warn the thousands of cyclists that mob the narrow streets like butterflies among cabbages. I love all of Amsterdamīs moods. Spring Autumn, Winter it has an ageless charm that captivates all. But there can be little that compares with Amsterdam on a summer night like this.
The Leidseplein has its own 24 hour webcam perched high on a gable above the table where we romanced the waiters tonight. If you want to you can take a look at our corner of heaven.
love
kabouter
3.9.99