Chris Paul

Valdes Shape Poem


                                                                    d e r s t a r
n i g h t w a                                            b l a c k g
        s j e m m i                                    o r s e a
                 e d f l a                             c e l l
                         t r e v                    e r a
                                e r s               t e
                                          e u n
                                                d
                                   u n t i l d a w n








“Behind the fantasy of Patagonia lies the myth of disappearance, of drowning in the desolation of the end of the world. Of course, this is just a metaphor. I can imagine that travelling to Patagonia is like reaching the limit of a concept, like getting to the end of things.”

In 1865 protestant Welsh were the first Europeans to settle Patagonia, leaving Great Britain unable to practice their religion and economically exploited by the English. They established the cities of Rawson and Trelew on the Valdes peninsula. For them Patagonia represented not the end of things, but embodiment of hope and the realisation of the impossible, at the limit of the concept.