Roque Dalton
Variations on a Phrase by Christ by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Sat, 08/21/2010 - 16:37
Variations on a Phrase by Christ
by Roque Dalton
"Render unto God that which is God's
and to Caesar that which is Caesar's."
I
Render unto God that which is God's
and to the fascist government of President Molina
that which the fascist government of President Molina
deserves.
I don't pretend to know, since my infancy,
everything that is God's
But I'm sure about what we must give
the fascist government of President Molina.
II
Give unto God that which is God's
Some of the First Proposals for The Epitaph... by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Sat, 08/21/2010 - 16:25
Some of the First Proposals for The Epitaph for His Most Reverend Excellency Monsignor Francisco Jose Castro Ramirez, Head Bishop of the City of Santiago de Maria (QDDG) and Better Known to the People (Whom He Called "Rabble") by the Definitive Nickname "White-Washed Tomb"
by Roque Dalton
1
"Of few men can it be said that they continue existing after
death exactly as they were in life."
2
"A whole part of the being of the Church died with him. So
On Biblical Business by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Sat, 08/21/2010 - 13:30
On Biblical Business
by Roque Dalton
The Bible says
Christ multiplied bread
and fish for the people.
If that's so, he did well
and that makes him greater than a great general
who wins a thousand battles in which millions of poor people die.
But at present the North Americans,
to see that bread and fish don't multiply
and that everyone suffers in resignation
the multiplied hunger that's part of big business,
step up production of Bibles
in all the dialects we poor speak
and ship them to us in the hands of blond young men
Watchtower by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Fri, 08/20/2010 - 19:55
Watchtower
by Roque Dalton
A religion that tells you there's only pie in the sky
and all earthly life is lousy and vicious
and that you shouldn't be too concerned
is the best guarantee you'll stumble at every step
and break your teeth and soul
against absolutely earthly rocks.
Ways of Dying by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Fri, 08/20/2010 - 19:52
Ways of Dying
by Roque Dalton
Commander Ernesto Che Guevara,
called "the great adventurer of armed struggle"
by pacifists
went and applied his revolutionary concepts
in Bolivia.
In the act he lost his life and those of a handful of heroes.
The great pacifists of the prudent path
tried out their own concepts in Chile:
the dead now exceed 30 thousand.
Imagine, reader, what they'd tell us
if they could speak of their experience,
those dead in the name of each concept.
Two Religions by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Fri, 08/20/2010 - 19:47
Two Religions
by Roque Dalton
When revolution is outlined on the horizon
the old cauldron of religions gets stirred up.
In normal times
religion meant going to Mass
paying tithes for God's house
baptizing children
and confessing sins to keep one's account in order.
When revolution is outlined on the horizon
churches remember the masses
and come down from the clouds and mysteries
and Sunday tranquility.
Fat pastors speak of the end of the world
when what's approaching is the end of exploitation;
Statistics on Freedom by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Sun, 08/08/2010 - 12:04
Statistics on Freedom
by Roque Dalton
Freedom of the press for Salvadoran people
costs 20 centavos a day
counting only those who can read
and have more than 20 centavos left over
after eating barely enough to stay alive.
Freedom of the press for the big
industrial merchants and publicists
sells for thousands and change for a black and white page
and I don't know how much for a square inch
of text or illustration.
Freedom of the press
for Don Napoleon Viera Altamirano
and Dutriz and Pinto and the owners of El Mundo
is worth millions:
Third Poem of Love by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Sat, 08/07/2010 - 08:45
Third Poem of Love
by Roque Dalton
Whoever tells you our love is extraordinary
because it was born of extraordinary circumstances
tell them we're struggling precisely
so that a love like ours
(a love among comrades in combat)
becomes
the most ordinary and common
almost the only
love in El Salvador.
Bad News on a Scrap of Newspaper by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Wed, 04/28/2010 - 15:00
Bad News on a Scrap of Newspaper
by Roque Dalton
Nowadays when my friends die
only their names die.
How can I hope, down in this rotten hole,
to take in more than the newsprint,
the sheen of delicate black letters,
arrows deep into personal memories?
Only those who live outside the prisons
can honor the corpses, wash off
the grief for their dead ones with embraces,
scratch up the grave with fingernail and tears.
Not those of us in jail: we just whistle
to let the sound play down the news.
The Bureaucrats by Roque Dalton
RevSocialist اش... — Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:22
The Bureaucrats
by Roque Dalton
The bureaucrats swim in a stormy sea of boredom.
Behind their hideous yawns they're the first to murder tenderness
they end up with sick livers and die clutching the telephone
their yellow eyes pinned to the clock.
They have exquisite handwriting and buy themselves neckties
they suffer strokes when they find out that their daughters masturbate
they owe their tailor bill they're barflies
they read the Reader's Digest and Neruda's love poems
they attend the Italian opera they bless themselves
