Por Que Cantamos

goldjadeocean posted this poem a few days ago, and I thought it was so beautiful I had to repost it.

Por Que Cantamos

If each hour brings its death
if time is a den of thieves
the breezes carry a scent of evil
and life is just a moving target
you will ask why we sing

if our finest people are shunned
our homeland is dying of sorrow
and the human heart is shattered
even before shame explodes
you will ask why we sing

if the trees and the sky remain
as far off as the horizon
some absence hovers over the evening
and disappointment colors the morning
you will ask why we sing

we sing because the river is humming
and when the river hums the river hums
we sing because cruelty has no name
but we can name its destiny

we sing because the child because everything
because in the future because the people

we sing because the survivors
and our dead want us to sing

we sing because shouting is not enough
nor is sorrow or anger

we sing because we believe in people
and we shall overcome these defeats

we sing because the sun recognizes us
and the fields smell of spring
and because in this stem and that fruit
every question has its answer

we sing because it is raining on the furrow
and we are the militants of life
and because we cannot and will not
allow our song to become ashes.

Uruguay, 1979
Mario Benedetti
Translated by D’Arcy Martin