Luna para poetas asesinados
​​
                    Creyeron que te enterraban
                    ​y lo que hacían era enterrar una semilla.
                         Ernesto Cardenal, epitafio para la tumba
                         de Adolfo Báez Bone revolucionario nicaragüense
 
          para los poetas de Myanmar,
          y todos los poetas muertos
          ​resistiendo tiranía.

Inmensa, cerca a la Tierra, la luna,
jala a las mareas de los mares
y de la sangre.
En la sombra de la Tierra,
se tiñe escarlata
como laca birmana
por los atardeceres de la Tierra.
¿O será que se ruboriza de furia,
partera, madrina de la vida?
La sangre de sus sumos sacerdotes,
los poetas, corre roja en las calles
 
Pero mátenos
y otros se levantarán.
Palabras cargadas
de verdad, belleza, amor
no mueren; encienden el pensar
y hacen revolución en el corazón.

Moon for Murdered Poets

                    They thought that they buried you
                    & what they did was bury a seed.
                         Ernesto Cardenal, epitaph for the tomb
                               of Adolfo Báez Bone, Nicaraguan revolutionary

          for the poets of Myanmar,
          & all poets killed
          ​resisting tyranny.
 
Huge, near Earth, the moon
pulls at the tides of the sea
and of the blood.
In the Earth’s shadow,
she is tinged scarlet,
like Burmese lacquer,
by the sunsets of the Earth.
Or is it that she flushes in fury,
midwife, godmother of life?
The blood of her high-priests,
the poets, runs red in the streets.
 
But kill us
and others will rise.
Words freighted
with truth, beauty, love
do not die; they ignite thought
and make revolution in the heart.
 
© Rafael Jesús González 2021

​Rafael Jesús González, Prof. Emeritus of literature and creative writing, was born and raised biculturally/bilingually in El Paso, Texas/Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, and taught at University of Oregon, Western State College of Colorado, Central Washington State University, University of Texas El Paso (Visiting Professor of Philosophy), and Laney College, Oakland, California where he founded the Dept. of Mexican & Latin-American Studies. Also visual artist, he has exhibited in the Oakland Museum of California, the Mexican Museum of San Francisco, and others in the U.S. and Mexico. Nominated thrice for a Pushcart prize, he was honored by the National Council of Teachers of English and Annenberg CPB for his writing in 2003. In 2013 he received a César E. Chávez Lifetime Award and was honored by the City of Berkeley with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th Annual Berkeley Poetry Festival 2015. He was named the first Poet Laureate of Berkeley in 2017. Visit http://rjgonzalez.blogspot.com/. 

​By Arnoldo García

To the 1%

You cannot wash
away your wars
You cannot bury
your crimes
You will never finish
mourning your losses
We will make furrows
over every inch
of the earth
our hands roots that reach
into the tomb of everyone
called the land
So that everyone we love
every neighbor
every co-worker
every family
every original people
every woman, man, student, guerrilla, migrant
who is missing
turns the sun inside out into our shadow
The light's flayed skin wrapped around
the shoulders of the wind
To comfort us from you.
You cannot murder
the sun
You cannot swallow
the earth
You cannot overthrow
the clouds
You cannot.
Our song thunders
in our sleep
Our sleep is an armed movement
Our sleep is serial justice
You die in our sleep
and we wake up to our dream...

Rinconcito
es un rincón pequeño especial en Somos en escrito para escritos cortos: un poema, un cuento, una memoria, ficción de repente, y otros.

Al 1%

No podrás limpiar
tus guerras
No podrás enterrar
tus crímenes
Nunca podrás acabar
estar de luto por tus pérdidas
Haremos zurcos
sobre cada centímetro
del planeta
Nuestras manos raíces que se extenderán
en la tumba de todas y todos
llamada la tierra
Para que todas y todos que amamos
cada vecina y vecino
cada compañera y compañero de trabajo
cada familia
cada pueblo original
cada mujer, hombre, estudiante, guerrillero, migrante
desaparecido
voltea el sol al revés en nuestra sombra
La piel desollada de la luz
envuelta alrededor de los hombros del viento
Para consolarnos de tí
Nunca podrás asesinar
al sol
Nunca podrás tragarte
a la tierra
Nunca podrás derrocar
a las nubes
No podrás.
Nuestro canto retumba
en nuestro reposo
Nuestro reposo es un movimiento armado
Nuestro reposo es justicia que no será detenida
Ustedes morirán en nuestro reposo
y nosotras y nosotros levantaremos a nuestro sueño...

​Arnoldo García is a co-writer of Poets against War & Racism | Poetas contra la guerra y el racism Poets against war and racism, published by Editorial Xingao, Oakland, California, 2017. For a book, click copy. For more information, visit artofthecommune.wordpress.com.