Te Quiero

A poem by Uruguayan poet Mario Benedetti. It is a love poem to his activist wife written while he was in exile during the years of the military dictatorship in Uruguay (from 1973 to 1985). I love the second to last line (I adore you in my paradise...) which is a beautiful statement about choosing to be happy even in difficult time.


Te Quiero
by Mario Benedetti


Your hands are my caress, my daily affirmations.
I love you because your hands work for justice.

If I adore you it is because you are my love, my accomplice and everything
and in the street, arm in arm, we are so much more than two.

Your eyes are my lucky charm against misfortune.
I adore you for your gaze that looks to and creates the future.
Your mouth that is yours and mine, your mouth that is never mistaken:
I adore you because your mouth knows how to shout defiance.

And for your sincere face and wandering spirit
and your weeping for the world
because you are the people, I adore you.

And because our love is neither famous not innocent,
and because we are a couple that knows we are not alone.

I adore you in my paradise, which is to say, in my country:
where people live happily even though they don’t have permission.

If I adore you it is because you are my love, my accomplice and everything
and in the street, arm in arm, we are so much more than two.