Just One Nation
written by: Maria Dulce Leitão Reis
I dream of the day
when I am the master of all my time,
giving myself over to poetry
and letting my body die.
Today, I only partly agree.
Today, I am old enough to realize
that I will never be the master of all my time.
It could be,
but that would bring me even greater suffering
and I don’t want that.
I will dedicate myself to poetry
for as long as I can,
which I hope will be a long time.
As for letting the body die, no,
I want to continue writing poetry
and for that,
I need my hands, my heart and my mind.
At the time I wrote this,
I was a young woman full of illusions and dreams,
locked away in a castle that I built myself.
Today I no longer have illusions,
I no longer live in the castle;
It was crumbling stone by stone,
but the dreams continue to be born
and live inside me,
they will only die when I also die.
My biggest dream
is the restoration of peace in the world.
I try to contribute to making this a reality.
The day will come
when all humanity will join hands
as a sign of love and unity
and the entire world will be just one Nation!
This is how cacti are, fascinating and thorny,
in due time,
they will produce beautiful, fragrant flowers!
- Just One Nation - August 21, 2025
- This is My Home - May 9, 2024
- I Wet My Feet and I Cool Down - January 29, 2024
