Roque Dalton: "Like You"

Like you I
love love, life, the sweet smell
of things, the sky blue
landscape of January days.

And my blood boils up
and I laugh through eyes
that have known the buds of tears.

I believe the world is beautiful
and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.

And that my veins don't end in me
but in the unanimous blood
of those who struggle for life,
love,
little things,
landscape and bread,
the poetry of everyone.

 

"Like You" by Roque Dalton, translated from the original Spanish by Jack Hirschman. Text as published in Resist! Christian Dissent for the 21st Century, edited by Michael G. Long (Orbis Books, 2008).  

Art credit: Untitled image by unknown photographer.