Start the day by reading a poem.
Don't let the price of the dollar hit you in the neck,
Don't let shampoo commercials kick you in the buttocks, or let the speed of the latest car convince you.
In your library, there's surely something worthwhile.
But even Marx said that by reading novels
he learned more about economics than by reading economists!
Start the day by putting a good Prévert in your hair.
An Alfonsina, a Santoro, a Sor Juana, or a Gelman.
What do I know? And if you don't have a library, go outside and look at a snail.
Do you think you'll be wiser looking at the distraught face
of a violent journalist than at the light gait of a snail?
But there's even more philosophy in your silence than in the
foolish words of that voice that rages on your morning screen!
Come on, start the day with tuñón, orozco, and villón.
Why don't you pick up some parra-style parrot verses and laugh your head off for a while? Do you think a major publicist took life more seriously
than a poet who played the trombone of poetry?
Don't let them throw old dandruff in your ears.
If you really want to stay up-to-date, read history books,
and then you'll know what will happen tomorrow.
But if that's not possible, and you're not into poetry, snails, or history,
Don't waste your time with me. Go look at the sky right away.
Have you seen it yet? No? Has the day's dead already fallen upon you, and hasn't the sunlight been given to you yet?
You can be God! Didn't you know that?
Start the day with a poem,
and soon you'll realize that despite the economic slumber,
despite the shouters and the fights and the know-it-alls,
little life is a beautiful miracle, a sweet dessert.
The poem is the spoon. But if you don't like it,
eat the dessert and get it all messy, eat with your hands and teeth.
but eat. eat. eat. eat.
before the day is over. Love yourself. Eat.