That beach was so beautiful
and so beautiful were its pebbles
all alike and tidy
smooth and clean
worn down by time
by the sea and by the wind.
Strolling was a pleasure
and my eyes
filled up with harmony
until a voice,
plaintive and almost weeping,
broke into my thoughts.
“I'm here, under your feet,
among all the pebbles
I’m the one that’s different from the others
because I didn’t let
the sea and the wind
wear my body smooth.
I want to ask you a favour.
Take me far away,
there’s nowhere here
for those who don't want
to be like the others.
Here everything is beautiful
to your eyes
but for us
forced to be all alike,
with no freedom
we might as well be dead.”
I picked up the pebble
which seemed deformed
and was rough to the touch,
but which my heart already loved.
I took it away
to another beach
where the sea and the wind
were mild
and all the pebbles were different
from one another,
in their forms and colours,
in their voices and thoughts.
I go and see it every day
and mixing them up is impossible
because each one of them

has a different smile.