A Christmas Song

The end of the year smacks of shopping,
congratulations, and cards
full of resolutions of renewal;
but I know there is another world
begging for life from every crib,
so I'll devote myself to making a song.

People wear harmony,
everything seems astoundingly
related to celebrating.
Some fete their millions,
others a clean shirt
and many don't know what giving is.

My song is not a thing of the sky
or the stars or the moon,
for I hand it over to you
who have none.

My song is not only
for someone who can hear it;
sometimes the deaf person
has more capacity to love it.

To have is not a proof of malice
nor is to have not
a sign of virtue;
but the person who's together
doesn't have to sacrifice his soul
to reach for his dreams.

So I sing to one who doesn't hear,
to one they don't let hear me,
to one who's never heard me;
to one whose daily struggle
gives me a reason to love:
to the one to whom no one has sung.

--Silvio Rodríguez

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

From all of us at teatro la fragua:

May your Christmas be filled with peace and joy;
and may you help bring that peace
to this world of darkness
in the new year.