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What would happen...?
(English translation of '¿Qué pasaría...?' by Mario Benedetti)
What would happen if one day
we woke up realising
that we were in the majority?
What would happen if suddenly
an injustice, just one,
was condemned by all,
all of us, everyone,
not a few, not some, but all?
What would happen if instead of
staying divided we
multiplied ourselves, we added to ourselves
and subtracted the enemy that
gets in our way?
What would happen if we
organized ourselves and at the same
moment we confronted
without weapons, in silence,
in multitudes, with millions of
stares, the face of the
oppressors, without cheers,
without applause, without smiles,
without slaps on the shoulders,
without partisan chants,
without chants?
What would happen if I prayed
for you who are so far away,
and you prayed for me, who is so far away, and we both
prayed for the others who are very
far away and the others for
us although we are far away?
What would happen if the cry
of one continent was
the cry of all continents?
What would happen if we took action
instead of feeling sorry for ourselves?
What would happen if we tore down
the frontiers and advanced
and advanced and advanced
and advanced?
What would happen if we burnt
all the flags so to
have only one, ours,
everyone's, or even better
none because we don’t
need it?
What would happen if suddenly
we stopped being patriotic in order to
be human?
I don’t know... I’m just wondering:
What would happen...?
For more translations of poems by Mario Benedetti, go to Translations.
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