I am a Flower

I’m a flower, a fly, a grain of rye.

I don’t pretend gratitude, nor do I believe in dreams.
I do not count the days, they fall like the rain.
I don’t meditate. I don’t make plans.
I don’t have obligations towards anybody.

I know little about mirrors. I am not a slave of images.
I don’t imagine, don’t presume. I do not get frustrated playing with riddles.
Only in the abstract I don’t find laughter. It is my delight to tell of realities.

Praises do not overcome me, nor do I bother with small prints.
I do not ponder or judge. My nation is the land that I stand on.
I do not invite or proclaim. I am not a martyr. I don’t have a cause.
I do not pursuit other people’s goods, since these are but mirages.
I don’t reject pleasures, but their red wings can not deceive me.

I’m foam, a flare, an ashtray, a hair curler.

I do not find, nor do I seek, that what is deceptive, that which never was and never will be.
I do not compromise my liberties. I do not read unripe books.
I do not buy wars. I do not sell religions. I don’t light up lamps since I do not have altars.

Chicken’s feet do not keep me awake.
No, I do not stop. No, we have not come to bring peace.
I only campaign, aspire and sink my teeth into it.

Gladys Segura