Little stones at my window = : Piedritas en la ventana : poems / by Mario Benedetti ; translation and introduction by Charles Dean Hatfield

Introduccion / Introduction -- Solo mientras tanto / Only in the Meantime (1948-50)--Ausencia de Dios / Absence of God -- Asuncuion de ti / Assumption of You -- Poemas de la oficina / Office Poems (1953-56) -- Sueldo / Salary -- El nuevo / The New Guy -- Dactilografo / Typist -- Licencia / Time Off -- Poemas del hoyporhoy / Poems for the Moment (1958-61) -- Cumpleanos en Manhattan / Birthday in Manhattan -- Un padrenuestro Latinoamericano / A Latin American "Our Father" -- Nocion de patria / Notion of My Country (1962-63) -- Nocion de patria / Notion of My Country -- Proximo projimo / The Next Progeny (1964-65) -- Curriculum / Curriculum Vitae --Todos conspiramos / We All Conspire -- Hasta manana / See You in the Morning --Parpadeo / Blinking -- Contra los puentes levadizos / Against Drawbridges (1965-66) -- Contra los puentes levadizos / Against Drawbridges -- Arte poetica / Ars Poetica Habanera / Habanera -- A ras de sueno / Down to Sleep (1967) -- Consternados, rabiosos / Dismayed and Furious -- Quemar las naves / Burn the Boats (1968-69) -- Grietas / Cracks -- El surco / The Furrow -- Artigas / Artigas -- Semantica / Semantics -- Quemar las naves / Burn the Boats -- Letras de emergencia / Emergency Letters (1969-73) -- Ser y estar / Being and Seeming -- El verbo / The Verb -- Casi un requiem / Something of a Requiem -- Oda a la pacificacion / Ode to Pacification -- Poemas de otros / Poems of Others (1973-74) -- Tactica y estrategia / Tactics and Strategies -- Credo / Creed -- La otra copa del brindis / The Other Glass in the Toast -- Fundacion del recuerdo / Foundation of a Memory -- Rostro de vos / Your Face -- Vas y venis / You Come and Go -- Cotidianas / Everyday Poems (1978-79) -- Piedritas en la ventana / Little Stones at My Window -- Esa batalla / That Battle -- Grillo constante / Constant Shackles -- Cotidiana I / Everyday Poem 1 -- Me voy con la lagartija / I'm Going with the Lizard -- Soy un caso perdido / I'm a Lost Cause -- Pais inocente / Innocent Countries -- Calculo de probabilidades / Risk Analysis -- Nuevo canal interoceanico / A New Inter-oceanic Channel -- Sindrome / Syndrome -- Ahora todo esta claro / Now I Understand -- Viento del exilio / Wind of Exile (1980-81) -- Viento del exilio / The Wind of Exile -- Pasatiempo / Pastime -- Cada vez que alguien muere / Every Time Someone Dies -- Companias / Companies -- Allende / Allende -- Hechos/Noticias / Reality/News -- Abrigo / Shelter -- Ni colorin ni colorado / Not Happily Ever After -- Geografias / Geographies (1982-84) -- El silencio del mar / The Silence of the Sea -- Desaparecidos / Desaparecidos -- Preguntas al azar / Random Questions (1985-86) -- Detras del humo / Behind the Smoke -- La Acustica de Epidauros / The Acoustics at Epidaurus -- Yesterday y manana / Yesterday and Manana (1988) -- Manana / Manana -- Il Cuore / Il coure -- Tormenta / Storm -- Las soledades de Babel / The Solitudes of Babel (1990-91) -- Otherness / Otherness -- Somos la catastrofe / We're the Catastrophe -- Las soledades de Babel / The Solitudes of Babel -- Sobrevivientes / Survivors -- Utopias / Utopias -- El olvido esta lleno de memoria / Forgetting is Full of Remembering (1992-94) -- Pajaros / Birds -- Burbuja / Bubble -- La vida ese parentesis / That Parenthesis Called Life (1995-97) -- Pocas cosas / Few Things -- Mass Media / Mass Media -- Soliloquio del desaparecido / Soliloquy of the Desaparecido -- Che 1997 / Che 1997 -- El lugar del crimen / The Scene of the Crime -- El mundo que respiro / The World I Breathe (1998-2001) -- Tampoco / Neither -- Children / Children -- De la derrota / From Defeat -- El mundo que respiro / The World I Breathe -- Cierre / Closing

These poems range in theme from pain of exile to joys of love to the horrors of political repression. Benedetti also frequently conveys with Kafkaesque irony the impact of bureaucracy on the lives of ordinary citizens. His latest poems in this collection focus on the personal and collective problems of reintegration into a wounded and changed society and the desire for universal brotherhood. Mario Benedetti was born in 1920 in Uruguay. He lived much of his life in political exile. Writing from exile, he was able to inform the world about the tragic events in his own country and to gain international recognition.