“Saber Viver” by Cora Coralina (1965)

Knowing How To Live

I don’t know…
if life is too short
or too long for us.
But I know that nothing in life
has meaning,
if we don’t touch people’s hearts.

Often it’s enough to be:
a lap that welcomes,
an arm that surrounds,
a word that comforts,
silence that respects,
happiness that infects,
a tear that runs,
a look that assuages,
love that promotes.

And this isn’t something from another world:
it’s what give meaning to life.

It’s what makes it
not be so short,
nor too long,
but makes it intense,
true and pure…
while it lasts.