Now I Am Going

And now I am going, without having received my inheritance,
without having lived in my house,
without having tilled my garden,
without having felt the kiss of seed time and of the light.
I am going without having yeilded my harvest,
without having lit my lamp,
without having broken my bread . . .
I am going without having been given my estate. . . .
I am going without having learned anything except how to shout and curse
and trample on berries and flowers . . .
I am going without having set eyes on Love,
my bitter lips filled with slaver and blasphemies,
my arms stiff and straight, my fists clenched, demanding Justice
outside the coffin.


~León Felipe (Translated by W.S. Merwin. Roots & Wings: Poetry from Spain 1900-1975. Hardie St. Martin, Editor. Harper & Row. 1976. p.95)