AGAPE (CESAR VALLEJO, 1918)

Today no one has come to inquire,

nor have they wanted anything from me this afternoon.

I have not seen a single cemetery flower

in so happy a procession of lights.

Forgive me, Lord! I have died so little!

This afternoon everyone, everyone goes by

without asking or begging me anything.

And I do not know what it is they forget, and it is

heavy in my hands like something stolen.

I have come to the door,

and I want to shout at everyone:

—If you miss something, here it is!

Because in all the afternoons of this life,

I do not know how many doors are slammed on a face,

and my soul takes something that belongs to another.

Today nobody has come;

and today I have died so little in the afternoon!