I’ve been listening to an American Public Media podcast On Being, a great program that ties meaning, religion, ethics and ideas, to notions such as the humanity of autism, Einstein’s ethics, or the ethos of the Slow Food movement.
One of today’s programs included a beautiful Pablo Neruda poem, Keeping Quiet. Listening to his poem reminded me of the Spanish American Poetry class I took a few semesters ago, one of those classes that reaffirmed my decision of being a Spanish major, and allowed me to encounter my second language through art rather than grammar.
Keeping Quiet
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.
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
This one time upon the earth,
let’s not speak any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
Seria un minuto fragante,
sin prisa, sin locomotoras,
todos estariamos juntos
en una inquietud instantanea.
It would be a delicious moment,
without hurry, without locomotives,
all of us would be together
in a sudden uneasiness.
Los pescadores del mar frio
no harian danio a las ballenas
y el trabajador de la sal
miraria sus manos rotas.
The fishermen in the cold sea
would do no harm to the whales
and the peasant gathering salt
would look at his torn hands.
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.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars of gas, wars of fire,
victories without survivors,
would put on clean clothing
and would walk alongside their brothers
in the shade, without doing a thing.
No se confunda lo ue quiero
con la inaccion definitiva:
la vida es solo lo que se hace,
no quier nada con la muerte.
What I want shouldn’t be confused
with final inactivity:
life alone is what matters,
I want nothing to do with death.
Si no pudimos ser unanimes
moviendo tanto nuestras vidas,
If we weren’t unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,
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.
if perhaps we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us
when everything seems to be dead
and then everything is alive.
Ahora contare hasta doce
y tu te callas y me voy.
Now I will count to twelve
and keep quiet and I’ll go.
shhhhhhhhhh…..be still 🙂
Everyone doing nothing for 12 sec would be the first time since our ‘birth’ we have been united. The time spent could save us.
Doug,
Thanks for the visit! There are so many things that unite us, both big and small (dreams, wonder, clouds, fingernails, need for water..etc) but its amazing how easily we forget we’re all living one life on one Earth. Perhaps if we remembered that during the twelve second countdown, we’d stay paused.
-Warren
I suggest adding a “google+” button for the blog!
Arron
wonderful poem…………….
saw it in my English textbook first…….