While teaching high school Spanish at Greenville Weston High School in the city of Greenville in the Mississippi Delta, I had the wonderful opportunity to study in the countries of Chile and Argentina during the summer of 2002. That summer introduced me to the literature and culture of those two wonderful countries. One poet that I love very much is Gabriela Mistral. She was the first Nobel laureate in literature from Latin America. Miss Mistral was also a devout Catholic and was buried in the habit of a member of the 3rd order Franciscan. A talented educator, the poem below reflects her love for children and her heart of social justice. It is a very wonderful poem. It was one of the poems that I had my students memorize in my Spanish classes.
PIECECITOS
Piececitos de niño,
azulosos de frío,
¡cómo os ven y no os cubren,
Dios mío!
¡Piececitos heridos
por los guijarros todos,
ultrajados de nieves
y lodos!
El hombre ciego ignora
que por donde pasáis,
una flor de luz viva
dejáis;
que allí donde ponéis
la plantita sangrante,
el nardo nace más
fragante.
Sed, puesto que marcháis
por los caminos rectos,
heroicos como sois
perfectos.
Piececitos de niño,
dos joyitas sufrientes,
¡cómo pasan sin veros
las gentes!
Tiny Feet
A child's tiny feet,
Blue, blue with cold,
How can they see and not protect you?
Oh, my God!
Tiny wounded feet,
Bruised all over by pebbles,
Abused by snow and soil!
Man, being blind, ignores
that where you step, you leave
A blossom of bright light,
that where you have placed
your bleeding little soles
a redolent tuberose grows.
Since, however, you walk
through the streets so straight,
you are courageous, without fault.
Child's tiny feet,
Two suffering little gems,
How can the people pass, unseeing.
No comments:
Post a Comment