Maybe Christmas is for everyone to say
to themselves and in a very low voice the name
of each thing, chewing the words
very carefully, in order to perceive from them
all the flavor, all the consistency.

Maybe it’s settle the eyes on everyday
objects, to discover with surprise
that we don’t know not even how they are
of so much we look at them.

Maybe it’s a feeling, a tenderness
that takes care of everything;
maybe an unexpected smile on a corner.

And maybe it’s all this and, in addition, the strength
to resume the path of every day
when the mystery has faded,
and it’s all sad again, and far away, and difficult.

Miquel Martí i Pol,
Per preservar la veu (To preserve the voice).
Literal translation for intercanvis.es
Barcelona: Llibres del Mall, 1985.

Giotto, for the first time in the history of European art makes the look of the Virgin Mary an intimate and warm look. It’s the look of a specific woman, looking at the fruit of her belly. This painting is far from mechanical or non-existent sights of previous European painting periods.

When Freud said that he had not discovered anything, but that they were the artists who had preceded him, he was absolutely right: nothing better than entrancing us with Giotto by looking at this splendid painting to celebrate this Christmas.

Original poem text

Potser Nadal

Potser Nadal és que tothom es digui
a si mateix i en veu molt baixa el nom
de cada cosa, mastegant els mots
amb molta cura, per tal de percebre’n
tot el sabor, tota la consistència.

Potser és reposar els ulls en els objectes
quotidians, per descobrir amb sorpresa
que ni sabem com són de tant mirar-los.

Potser és un sentiment, una tendresa
que s’empara de tot; potser un somriure
inesperat en una cantonada.

I potser és tot això i, a més, la força
per reprendre el camí de cada dia
quan el misteri s’ha esvanit, i tot
torna a ser trist, i llunyà, i difícil.

Miquel Martí i Pol,
Per preservar la veu.
Barcelona: Llibres del Mall, 1985.