If instead of being hanged by the neck <br /> you're thrown inside <br /> for not giving up hope <br />in the world, your country, your people, <br /> if you do ten or fifteen years <br /> apart from the time you have left, <br />you won't say, <br /> "Better I had swung from the end of a rope <br /> like a flag" -- <br />You'll put your foot down and live. <br />It may not be a pleasure exactly, <br />but it's your solemn duty <br /> to live one more day <br /> to spite the enemy. <br />Part of you may live alone inside, <br /> like a tone at the bottom of a well. <br />But the other part <br /> must be so caught up <br /> in the flurry of the world <br /> that you shiver there inside <br /> when outside, at forty days' distance, a leaf moves. <br />To wait for letters inside, <br />to sing sad songs, <br />or to lie awake all night staring at the ceiling <br /> is sweet but dangerous. <br />Look at your face from shave to shave, <br />forget your age, <br />watch out for lice <br /> and for spring nights, <br /> and always remember <br /> to eat every last piece of bread-- <br />also, don't forget to laugh heartily. <br />And who knows, <br />the woman you love may stop loving you. <br />Don't say it's no big thing: <br />it's like the snapping of a green branch <br /> to the man inside. <br />To think of roses and gardens inside is bad, <br />to think of seas and mountains is good. <br />Read and write without rest, <br />and I also advise weaving <br />and making mirrors. <br />I mean, it's not that you can't pass <br /> ten or fifteen years inside <br /> and more -- <br /> you can, <br /> as long as the jewel <br /> on the left side of your chest doesn't lose it's luster! <br /> <br /> May 1949 <br /> <br /> <br />Trans. by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk (1993) <br /><br />Nazim Hikmet<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/some-advice-to-those-who-will-serve-time-in-pris/
