Poetry- like bread

A friend of mine sent this poem to me today. I loved the simile in this: "Poetry is, like bread, for everyone." So true. We often have a view of what poetry means- that it has to be complicated, or about love, or rhyme, or not rhyme, or that only certain types of people can write it or read it.

But there are so many different types of poetry, just like there are different types of people. And poetry can be simple or intricate, but it can also take on so many different forms, with such a variety of subjects. And it can feed you, can fill you up, no matter who you are, where you're from, no matter whether you are the writer or the reader.

Poetry is for everyone.
Thanks for this reminder, Abel!

Like You (Como Tu)

I, like you,
love love, life, the sweet delight
of things, the blue
landscape of January days.

Also my blood bubbles over
laughing through my eyes
which have known the rush of tears.

I believe the world is beautiful,
that poetry is, like bread, for everyone.

And that my veins don’t end in me
but in the unanimous blood
of those who struggle for life,
love,
things,
countryside and bread,
poetry for everyone.

-Roque Dalton
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In its original Spanish:

Como Tú

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.

-por Roque Dalton