The Marionette (Translated From The Original, By Leon De Greif) Poem by Juan Lozano

If God forgot for a day
that I were a cloth ragdoll
I might not say all I mean,
but I would mean all I say.

Oh God,
if I had a heart,
I would leave my hate written in ice
to melt with the sun on the pondtop.

I would sleep less
and dream more.

To a child, I would give wings,
but leave him learn flight
on his own.

It is so much this puppet has learned
from man.

So much I have learned,
and yet, it is nothing.

For when I am stored back in this box,
it is my wretched fortune to die.