HIGH TREASON
I do not love my country. Its abstract splendor
is beyond my grasp.
But (although it sounds bad) I would give my life
for ten places in it, for certain people,
seaports, pinewoods, castles,*
a run-down city, gray, grotesque,
various figures from its history,
mountains
(and three or four rivers).
José Emilio Pacheco
Translated by Alastair Reid
* In other version this verse is: seaports, pinewoods, fortresses.