KEEPING QUIET
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep quiet.
For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for one second
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fisherman in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors
would put on clean clothes and
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused with
total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving
and for once could do nothing
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Wonderful in Spanish too:
A callarse
Pablo Neruda
Ahora contaremos doce
y nos quedamos todos quietos.
Por una vez sobre la tierra
no hablemos en ningun idioma,
por un segundo detengamonos,
no movamos tanto los brazos.
Seria un minuto fragante,
sin prisa, sin locomotoras,
todos estariamos juntos
en una inquietud instantanea.
Los pescadores del mar frio
no harian danio a las ballenas
y el trabajador de la sal
miraria sus manos rotas.
Los que preparan guerras verdes,
guerras de gas, guerras de fuego,
victorias sin sobrevivientes,
se pondrian un traje puro
y andarian con sus hermanos
por la sombra, sin hacer nada.
No se confunda lo que quiero
con la inaccion definitiva:
la vida es solo lo que se hace,
no quiero nada con la muerte.
Si no pudimos ser unanimes
moviendo tanto nuestras vidas,
tal vez no hacer nada una vez,
tal vez un gran silencio pueda
interrumpir esta tristeza,
este no entendernos jamas
y amenazarnos con la muerte,
tal vez la tierra nos ensenie
cuando todo parece muerto
y luego todo estaba vivo.
Ahora contare hasta doce
y tu te callas y me voy.
-Extravagaria
Oh thank you so much Michele. Everything sounds more beautiful in Spanish.
I would love to be able to give that poem the proper respect by reciting it correctly. Unfortunately, my Spanish is more like Spanglish…not quite as pretty as the real thing.
But I love reading the words. They have such life in them…silencio sounds much quieter, with more gravitas & depth than simply using the English ‘silence’.
What a wonderful poem. Thanks for sharing, Colleen. A lot could be learned and understood if we all took more moments of silence and stopped to think rather than act.
Great photo, too.
Sharry, that’s my goal every day…to just WAIT, even just a second or two, before I react; to just take a step back and pause. It’s always amazing when I actually pull it off.