One of the activities to raise money is going to be recording our students at NGA and IESO Sierra La Mesta reciting a poem. Students in Spain will read the poem in English while students at NGA will read it in Spanish in order to practise their reading skills in the target language. This is the poem, by Brian Bilston, in English and Spanish, which is wittily written as it can be read from top to bottom and backwards, changing the entire meaning of it.
Enjoy!
Intro
Porque todo depende de según cómo se mire, este poema depende de cómo se lea. De arriba abajo nos muestra una cara sombría y egoísta de la humanidad que vemos hoy en día desgraciadamente, más de la cuenta. Sin embargo, al leerlo de abajo arriba, descubrimos esa cara solidaria del ser humano, la que necesitamos día a día, para hacer de este, un mundo mejor.
In this day and age, perspective is vital to understanding, and never is that more true than in this poem. Read from top to bottom, it depicts a dark and selfish vision of humanity; one that is, unfortunately, all too common in today's society. However, when read backwards, using only the same words we discover a sense of solidarity, kindness and kinship with one another; the very facets we need every day to make the world a better place.
REFUGEES
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way
REFUGIADOS
No necesitan nuestra ayuda
Así que no me cuentes que
Estas caras demacradas podrían ser la tuya o la mía
Si el destino nos hubiera mostrado otras cartas
Tenemos que verlos como realmente son
Oportunistas, parásitos
Gandules y holgazanes
Con bombas escondidas entre sus ropajes
Asesinos y ladrones
No son
Bienvenidos aquí
Deberíamos hacerles
Volver a donde pertenecen
Ellos no pueden
Compartir nuestra comida
Compartir nuestros hogares
Compartir nuestros países
En vez de eso, déjanos
Que se construya un muro para que no entren
no está bien decir
esta gente es como nosotros
un lugar debería solo pertenecer a los que nacieron allí
no seas tan estúpido como para pensar que
Podemos mirar al mundo de otra manera