KEEPING 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 movement
Without rush, without engines.
We would all be together
In a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen 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 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,
Perhaps a huge silence
Might interrupt this sadness
Of never understanding ourselves
And of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
As when everything seems dead
And later proves to be alive. Pablo Neruda
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KEEPING 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 movement
Without rush, without engines.
We would all be together
In a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen 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 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,
Perhaps a huge silence
Might interrupt this sadness
Of never understanding ourselves
And of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
As when everything seems dead
And later proves to be alive. Pablo Neruda