Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, thousands are gathered at the feet of a false prophet.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, a false prophet waxes nostalgic, heralding false victories.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, truth is slain and human dignity is vacant.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, there are people who can see who remain blind.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, there are people who can hear but cannot listen.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, there are voices who can speak only someone else’s thoughts.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, the beatings my father took are forgotten.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, there are family graves unattended of loved ones I’ll never meet.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, there are no more Bayamesas.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, all manner of history is refuted.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, liberty is a stranger.
Right now, in the city where I was born but have never seen, Bayamo, the death of the Cuban soul continues.
To be buried alongside Tia Amanda, who carried those eyes above and whose only wish upon her death was to be sung La Bayamesa.
In the city where I was born but will never truly see.
Hoy que mi pueblo vive ilusionado
yo me siento inspirado y un son estoy cantando
anunciandole a todos mis hermanos
que nuestro día ya viene llegando!
I always wanted the Cuban people to rise up and liberate themselves. Why can’t the thousands made to listen to Castro just rush the stage and kill him? Its because the security apparatus is so big in a communist nation that it is impossible.
Makes me think of this verse from Marti:
¡Yo pienso cuando me alegro
Como un escolar sencillo,
En el canario amarillo,
Que tiene el ojo tan negro!
¡Yo quiero, cuando me muera
Sin patria, pero sin amo,
Tener en mi losa un ramo
De flores, y una bandera!
@mandingo
it happened in Romania… it can happen in Cuba.
Could be just a little thing, a sign of weakness, and it can be all over.
Or rivers of blood. Unfortunately they could also happen.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.” –Thomas Jefferson
Not to oversimplify the issue, but in the movie/cartoon “Bug’s Life” the killer grasshoppers plagued the ants. The ants by themsleves were no match, but as a whole defeated them. In a sense this is the case in Cuba. As individuals they are no match as a whole they could rise even without arms. The issue is getting someone to be first.
Val:
Did not know you were born in Bayamo. It seems like yesterday that I was there and yet it has been perhaps 47 years since I passed through on my way to Guisa and then to our land between the Bayamo and the Guama Rivers.
Some stories of that time are found at:
http://narrations-of-war-in-cuba.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_narrations-of-war-in-cuba_archive.html
BTW the old coot is making so many mistakes now it cannot be long before Cuba is free,
Val, the most repugnant thing is Bayamo being located in the “new” province of Granma. That is the very first thing that needs to change, the name of the province. I’ve just realized that we are both “palestinos.”
Hey just wait a minute I count three or don’t you allow montunos into the club
Larry Daley Garcia-I~niguez Enamorado
Los ojos de la bayamesa lo dicen todo:
Oscuros como la noche,
Y radiantes como una estrella,
Todo a la misma vez
Un misterio inconcevible
Y todo lo que es verdad
Se encuentran en su brillo
Y se envuelven en su oscuridad