Life, as told to a neighborhood child

And then God gave Life to the man,
and it was so beautiful and delicate
that the man didn't know
what to do with it
and he was happy just sleeping.
But, next morning,
grief came back to him,
along with a strong desire to cry,
and he carried Life
like someone who carries a baby,
or dynamite…
Sometimes he held it like a gift
and he wanted to show it,
but everybody had one, they ignored him.
And he stood sadly in silence…
Have you already eaten your lunch?

   --Vicent Andrés Estellés (1924-1993), a Catalán poet, "is considered to be the greatest poet that the Valencian Country has seen since the fifteenth century." Thank you to Irene Blasco for the post and her English translation, which I have changed very slightly for rhythm.

La Vida Contada a un Nen del Veïnat

I llavors, Déu li va donar
la Vida a l'home,
i era tan bella i delicada
que l'home no sabia
què fer amb ella
i sols era feliç dormint.
Al dematí, però,
tornava la congoixa
i li venia aquell
desig enorme de plorar,
i duia als seus braços la Vida
com qui duu un nen de bolquers,
com qui duu un setrill de nitroglicerina...
De vegades la duia com si fos un regal
i volia amostrar
-la, però tots en tenien i no li feien cas,
i callava, tristíssim...
¿Ja t'has menjat el berenar?