A Bit of Poetry

A Translation by a poem by Mario Benedetti

The Defense of Happiness
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Defend happiness as the trenches
defend it from scandal and routine
from misery and the miserable 
from the transient absences
and the definitive ones

defend happiness as a principle
defend it from fright and nightmare
from the neutral ones and the neutrons
from the sweet disgraces
and the darkened diagnostics

defend happiness as a flag
defend it from lightning and melancholy
from the guileless and the guilty
from the rhetoric and the heart attacks
from the endemic and from the academic

defend happiness as a destiny
defend from the fire and the firemen
from suicides and homicides
from the leisurely and the overwhelming
from the obligation of happiness

defend happiness as a certainty
defend it from oxidation and filth
from the famously worn-out time
from the morning dew and opportunism
from the prostitutes of laughter

defend happiness as a right
defend it from god and from the winter
from capitalization and death
from last names and regrets
from probabilities
                          and from happiness as well.