“…
And for man who is cruel,
My heart´s garden grows
Not thistle nor bitter herb
I cultivate the white rose”
José Martí.
Versos Sencillos.
Translated by Anne Fountain.
If you could say a few nice things about your greatest enemy, what would they be and why?
I'm not a guy who prides himself on having enemies. In fact, right now, I couldn't name anyone as my greatest enemy. Not that I have many friends, either. The years I've lived through have shown me that they are an endangered species. But if there's one thing I can't change, it's if someone unilaterally decides that I'm their enemy and makes a point of letting me know it.
Then I have no choice but to reciprocate by calling myself the enemy of my enemy. You're not going to do such a great slight to someone who has spent so much time and effort to become the annoying rock in your shoe! I think a subject of such caliber will do for this experiment where we are challenged to point out what good they can inspire in us.
People who are unwilling to have a friendly relationship with you will always be on the lookout for your mistakes. Our faults are the perfect fuel material to feed the flames of hatred we provoke in our enemies. They will use our mistakes as an argument to prove the truth of their ill-feelings.
At this point, we need to thank our enemies (even if not publicly) for the opportunity they give us to overcome. Sometimes we are so convinced that we are doing the right thing that we are unable to realize that we have strayed from the right path. It is then when the one who is proud to have you at the top of his list of enemies, always watching your steps, makes you reflect and correct your course. The one who loves you well, in general, does not notice your mistakes, something impossible to replicate with the bad eyes of your enemies.
Another nice thing we can point out to our enemies is that they are always giving us a life lesson. With their behavior, they teach us how we would not like to act. It is normal for us to compare ourselves with others when we want to recognize ourselves as part of a social group. If there were no people with opposite behaviors to ours, we would lack a pattern with which to contrast ourselves.
In conclusion, it only remains to say to our enemies (regardless of the degree of enmity) that it was good to know them, that we appreciate their determination to make us better people and to show us the way we would not want to behave. Congratulations on being such good enemies.
This is my first participation in Weekend-Engagement topics, organized by the Weekend Experiences community. I got here at the suggestion of 
My thanks to 
Thank you for reading.
Original content by 
All photos are my own, taken during the 12th Havana Biennial.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
