After my last post, I felt a little done, so I came across one of my drafts, which I thought would fit with that: living, dying, and growing again! I hope you will enjoy it.💖
PABLO NERUDA (DESIGN FOR TED)
Pablo Neruda – I ask for silence
From the book’s collection of poems
Now, leave me alone. Now, get used to it without me. I am going to close my eyes And I only want five things, five favourite roots. One is endless love. The second thing is to experience autumn. I can’t be without the leaves fly and return to earth. The third thing is the grave winter, the rain that I loved, the caress of fire in the wild cold. Fourthly, summer round like a watermelon. The fifth thing is your eyes, My beloved Matilda, I don’t want to sleep without your eyes, I don’t want to live without you looking at me: I change the spring why you keep looking at me. Friends, that’s all I want. It’s almost nothing and almost everything. Now if you want you can go. I have lived so long that one day they will have to forget me by force, erasing myself from the slate: my heart was endless. But why do I ask for silence? Don’t think I’m going to die: The opposite happens to me: It happens that I’m going to live. It happens that I am and that I continue. It will not be, then, but within grain will grow from me, first, the grains that break the earth to see the light, but Mother Earth is dark: and inside me, I am dark: I am like a fountain in whose waters the night leaves its stars and continues alone through the field. It’s about how much I’ve lived that I want to live as long. I never felt so in harmony, I have never had so many kisses. Now, as always, it’s early. The light flies with its bees. Leave me alone with the day. I ask permission to be born.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could write a second post this week, as I arrived Thursday late back home from the trip to Southern Germany, and I was almost flat after a long drive with many car crashes and some pile-ups (thank goodness we were just spectators in the traffic jam). Yet, I know a specific resistance within me calls for expressing my feelings for freedom and justice. Therefore, I decided to share some artwork from Victor Jara, one of my favourites in the matter of resistance, in company with another warrior, Pablo Nerud.
I discovered Victor Jara and his music in the early 1970s when Chile began its transition towards democracy. Following the fall of the Shah’s regime, I learned more about his work. Victor Jara was undoubtedly a legend, and I loved his music. He composed music for Pablo Neruda’s poems. He performed at a ceremony honouring him when Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972, so we have two masters of art here to speak about human rights!
I am sharing this with you because there is a lot of talk about separatism in Iran at the moment, which is causing fear that Iran will be split up. However, this justification is baseless because all the people and ethnicities of Iran are united in seeking human rights and fair politics. Here, Pablo Neruda, through Victor Jara’s music and voice, says what it’s all about!
Aquí Me Quedo (I’ll stay here)
I do not want the country divided Not even bled by seven knives I want the light of Chile raised About the new house built
I do not want the country divided We all fit in my land And those who believe they are prisoners They go away with their melody
The rich have always been foreigners Let them go to Miami with their aunts I do not want the country divided They go away with their melody
I do not want the country divided We all fit in my land I stay to sing with the workers In this new history and geography
And in this song, one of his masterpieces, he humbly highlights the importance of rights and justice!
I do not sing for singing Yo no canto por cantar
not even for having a good voice, ni por tener buena voz,
I sing because the guitar canto porque la guitarra
It makes sense and reason. tiene sentido y razón.
It has a heart of earth Tiene corazón de tierra
and dove wings, y alas de palomita,
It’s like holy water es como el agua bendita
holy glories and sorrows. santigua glorias y penas.
This is where my song fits Aquí se encajó mi canto
as Violeta said como dijera Violeta
working guitar guitarra trabajadora
with the smell of spring. con olor a primavera.
It’s not a rich man’s guitar Que no es guitarra de ricos
not anything that looks like ni cosa que se parezca
my song is from the scaffolding mi canto es de los andamios
to reach the stars, para alcanzar las estrellas,
that the song has meaning que el canto tiene sentido
when it beats in the veins cuando palpita en las venas
of the one who will die singing del que morirá cantando
the true truths, las verdades verdaderas,
not fleeting flattery no las lisonjas fugaces
nor foreign fame ni las famas extranjeras
but the song of a market sino el canto de una lonja
to the bottom of the earth. hasta el fondo de la tierra.
That’s where everything comes Ahí donde llega todo
and where it all begins y donde todo comienza
I sing that it has been brave canto que ha sido valiente
It will always be a new song. siempre será canción nueva.
I wish you a happy Easter filled with leisure and joy. Stay safe and stay tuned. 💖🙏🌹💕💥🍷
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