... is a poem by José Agustín Goytisolo, written for his daughter Julia. She was named after his mother, who was killed in a bombing during the Spanish civil war in 1938. It is a poem celebrating life, against all dictators.
You cannot turn back
because life already pushes you
like a never-ending howl.
My daughter 'tis better to live
with the happiness of mankind
than to cry before the blind wall.
You will feel cornered,
you will feel lost or lonely,
maybe you'll wish you hadn't been born.
I know very well they will tell you
that there is no object to life,
that it is an unfortunate affair.
Then always remember
what I wrote one day
thinking of you as I am now thinking.
A man alone, a woman,
Taken like that, one by one,
are like dust, are nothing.
But when I talk to you
when I write these words for you
I also think of other people.
Your destiny is in others,
your future is your own life,
your dignity that of everybody.
Others expect you to hang on,
the help of your happiness,
your song among their songs.
Then always remember
what I wrote one day
thinking of you as I am now thinking.
Never give up or halt
by the road, never say
I can't take it and here I'll remain.
Life is beautiful you will see
how in spite of everything
you'll have love, you'll have friends.
For the rest there is no choice
and this world as it is
will be all you have.
Forgive me, I do not know
what else to say but understand
I am still on my way.
And always, always, remember
what I wrote one day
thinking of you, like I am now thinking.
