THE STATUTES OF MAN

 

ARTICLE 1

It is decreed that now truth is valid

that now life is valid

and that, hand in hand,

we will all work towards the valid life.

 

ARTICLE 2

It is decreed that all days of the week,

including the most ashen of Tuesdays,

have the right to become Sunday mornings.

 

ARTICLE 3

It is decreed that, from this instant forward,

there will be sunflowers in all of the windows

and that the sunflowers will have the right

to bloom in the shade;

and that the windows must remain open the whole day

facing the green pastures where HOPE grows.

 

ARTICLE 4

It is decreed that man will never again have

to doubt his fellow man.

That man will have trust in man

like the palm tree trusts the wind

like the wind trusts the air

like the air trusts the blue fields of the sky.

 

Unique Paragraph:

Man will trust his fellow man

like a child trusts another child.

 

ARTICLE 5

It is decreed that men

are free from the yoke of lies.

Never again will it be necessary to use

the shield of silence

or the armor of words.

Man will sit at the table

with his stare unsoiled

because truth will come to be served

before the after-meal conversation.

 

ARTICLE 6

It is established, for ten centuries,

the reality dreamed by the prophet Isaiah

and the wolf and the lamb will graze together

and the food of both

will have the same taste as that of dawn.

 

ARTICLE 7

By irrevocable decree is established

the everlasting reign of JUSTICE and that light

and joy will be a generous flag

spread out forever in the souls of the people.

 

ARTICLE 8

It is decreed that the greatest anguish

was and will always be

not being able to give LOVE to whom one loves

and not knowing that water

is what gives the plant the miracle of the flower.

 

ARTICLE 9

It is permitted that our daily bread

have, for man, the mark of his sweat

but that it always have, above all,

the warm taste of TENDERNESS.

 

ARTICLE 10

It is permitted that any person,

at any time in their life,

wear a white suit.

 

ARTICLE 11

It is decreed that, by definition,

man is an animal that loves

and that is why he's beautiful,

much more beautiful than a morning star.

 

ARTICLE 12

It is decreed that nothing will be mandatory or prohibited.

Everything will be allowed,

especially playing with rhinoceroses

and an afternoon walk

with a giant begonia in the buttonhole of one's lapel.

 

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Only one thing is prohibited:

TO BE WITHOUT LOVE.

 

ARTICLE 13

It is decreed that money

will never again be able to buy

the sunlight of mornings to come.

Expelled from the great chest of fear,

money will transform itself into a fraternal sword

to defend the right to sing

and the celebration of the dawn of a new day.

 

FINAL ARTICLE

It is prohibited to use the word FREEDOM

which will be censored from dictionaries

and from the deceitful marshes of the mouth.

From this instant forward

freedom will be something transparent and alive,

like a fire or a river,

or like the seeds of wheat,

and man's heart

will always be its dwelling.

(Thiago de Mello)

Stairway to Heaven (Led Zep)