Keeping Quiet
Keeping Quiet – A Callarse
Pablo Neruda
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.
It would be a delicious moment,
without hurry, without locomotives,
all of us would be together
in a sudden uneasiness.
The fishermen in the cold sea
would do no harm to the whales
and the peasant gathering salt
would look at his torn hands.
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.
What I want shouldn’t be confused
with final inactivity:
life alone is what matters,
I want nothing to do with death.
If we weren’t unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,
if 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.
Now I will count to twelve
and you keep quiet and I’ll go.
(painting sent by a friend in Copenhagen, which is now on her wall; painted by Charlotte Backman)
December 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 am
An incredibly simple poem about the power of silence. If you really like Neruda, check out Red Poppy at http://www.redpoppy.net. It’s a non-profit set up to create a documentary about Neruda, publish his biography, and translate his works into English.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Hello and how amazing that you chose this Neruda poem as it was part of my Solstice message this year and seems to be reverberating around the world. Perhaps a friend forwarded it to you – or even I did if we share networks! I put in a link to the whole message that included the Neruda poem for people to enjoy.
Vicki