Like You / Como Tú

El Salvadoran poet and activist Roque Dalton was frequently exiled, but always returned to his home country. He began this poem with “like you,” inviting the reader into his world, and suggesting that people are more similar than different. We honor his voice, and those of todos los Hispanos, during Hispanic Heritage month.

Like You

by Roque Dalton

Like you I
love love, life, the sweet smell
of things, the sky-blue
landscape of January days.
And my blood boils up
and I laugh through eyes
that have known the buds of tears.
I believe the world is beautiful
and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.
And that my veins don’t end in me
but in the unanimous blood
of those who struggle for life,
love,
little things,
landscape and bread,
the poetry of everyone. 

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En Español: 

Como Tú 

Por Roque Dalton

Yo, como tú,
amo el amor, la vida, el dulce encanto
de las cosas, el paisaje
celeste de los días de enero.
También mi sangre bulle
y río por los ojos
que han conocido el brote de las lágrimas.
Creo que el mundo es bello,
que la poesía es como el pan, de todos.
Y que mis venas no terminan en mí
sino en la sangre unánime
de los que luchan por la vida,
el amor,
las cosas,
el paisaje y el pan,
la poesía de todos.