A Poem by Pablo Neruda for Summer Days

What I want should not be confused with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about…..

If we were not so single minded about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Perhaps the earth can teach us,
as when everything seems dead in winter and later proves to be alive.

Now I'll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.