The goodness.
Pablo Neruda.


Let us harden toughen the kindness, friends... It is also kind, the stab wound that makes jump corruption and worms: it is also kind the flame in the jungles igniting so that the kind ploughs split the land .

Let us harden our kindness, friends. There is no longer a watery-eyes and soft-words coward, there is no longer a cretinous with hidden intention and obliging gesture who doesn't lead goodness, by you granted, as a closed door to any breakthrough of our examination. See that we need to call good those of honest heart, not the subdued, the submissive.

See that the word is becoming cozy of the meanest complicities, and confess that our words goodness was always - or almost always - lying. Sometimes it has stoped lying since, after all, we only depend on us and we are always showing remorse alone of our falsehood, and living thus enclosed in ourselves, between the walls of our cunning stupidity.

The goodies will be those who soon liberate of this awful lie and know how to say their hardened goodness against anyone who deserved it. Goodness that goes on, not with somebody, but against someone. Goodness that does not fondle neither licks, but uncovers and fights because it is the same weapon of life.

And thus will be called goodies those of right heart, not subdued, the submissive, the best. They will recover the rotten goodness by so much lowliness, they will be the life's arm and the rich of spirit. And of them, only of them, will be the kingdom of the land.

  Español.

Most recent revision: May 18, 2002