Federico Arcos

Elegy to Tears

Tears 
have no frontiers; 
carry no passport; 
nor require a visa. 
Tears 
are international; 
as affection, 
tenderness, 
love. 
Tears 
have no fatherland; 
they are universal. 
Tears 
is the man; 
is the woman, 
—the mother—,
is the child. 
To suffer 
is what is human 
and human is the people. 
To suffer is the flesh 
rendered from the people 
which raises a moan 
and sheds tears. 
And the people are here; 
and in the antipode, 
in the septentrion, 
in the capricorn. 
The people are 
everywhere, 
because to suffer 
is the people; 
people, of the peoples 
which cover the Earth. 
This. Earth 
that was taken 
from the people; 
that was taken 
from the man; 
the woman,
—the mother—,
the child. 
This Earth 
which must be 
reconquered 
because it belongs to us. 
Make it ours 
Ours. Everyone’s. 
Without borders 
and without fatherlands. 
And, thus put an end 
to suffering 
and put an end 
to tears.