1.
In St. Joseph of the Flowers
In a country called The Savior
A Carpenter shares beans and rice
with his family
His hands remember cutting the boards
A missing head under 6ft.
by not very wide
2ft. by dead from hunger
or was it infection?
5ft. by raped and shot at 1ft. range.
2.
En San Jose De La California
a steady pair of arms levels hedges.
The arms, the thorax the belly
Remember the climb, the crawl
Fleeing the country called The Savior
The heart, the ears the nerves
remember the shots
the carpet bombings.
Home village left behind.
3.
En D.C. Estaos Unidos
a soft guitar on a c.d.
slips smoothly through Silent Night, Jingle Bells
Drinks, crackers, cheese, shrimp
passed around the reception room
Is anyone carrying the trays
from an evacuated village?
A Senator sips a Bloody Mary
Tomato juice squeezed from a harvest
outside San Jose De La Michigan
or was it Missouri?
Index finger at top of the glass
The finger that pushed the button “Yes”
Sending how many million this time
in military and economic aid
to the country called The savior?
How silent can the night be Senator
taking another sip
of your Maria Sangriento
Do you remember the testimony?
Maria Y Rosa
Found raped and shot at 1ft. range?
Was their blood
the color of tobasco sauce
when it dried?
Does the vodka lighten the color ,
thin the consistency
enough for you to forget?
How silent is your night Senator
on your plane ride home?
4.
How silent can the night be
in a repopulated village
in the Country called The savior?
in the hearts the heads the nerves
of those who have returned
Is there a cure for the memories
of all that was lost before fleeing?
Christmas Morning
the priest will chant the names
of the murdered.
Sorrowful, defiant “presntes”
will fill the church
Back home
You will recite
“Give Us this day, our daily bread”.
Will you think of those
who harvest the grain for your bread
Senator?
During prayers after Communion
will you remember a Latin prayer
from childhood; “Ite Misai Es”?
Will you be thinking:
“It is I who miss”
the way things were in the world,
in the church?
“It is I who am out of range
of the sounds of Los Nombres Y Presentes
and other sounds
of a country occupied
by its own military”?
When the mass murder has ended,
excuse me,
I meant to say
“The Mass has ended”
Go in Peace.
5.
The senator
Spreads jelly on toast
next to his Christmas omlette
Skims New York Times
Travel section
Sips coffee
picked by experienced hands
Their hourly wage not listed on the bag.
Merry Christmas Senator.
a shorter version of this poem appeared in SOLIDARITY TIMES, published by Chicago-Cibnquera Sister Cities in the late nineties.
