Poem #2

What is Left

When someone asks

If I'm left,

I will look up,

And say,

What is left?

Oh, you mean,

The left

Run!...running

my country?

No, no, no.

I left those dreams

Long ago.

I will point up,

and say,

I'm up,

Up, and up.

I want my

people to rise,

To fight, to run

From the left,

The right.

(No one is right.)

Get them all

Away from me.

You see?

You're left

because in your heart

of hearts

of hearts,

You worship

The Great Colonizers,

The experimenters

of People

In faraway lands.

You worship

Those who say,

One generation has to suffer,

Maybe two, three,

So the fourth will be free.

(Mourning other

People’s children,

A Mother buried

her child this morning.)

Returning to you.

You say,

Kill and ignore the spill,

Kill and ignore

Their sorrow.

Tomorrow will

Worry about 

Tomorrow.

In your heart

of hearts,

of hearts,

You say,

(Or your silence says)

That only one leader

Can do it,

Alone,

Build the skeleton

With the broken bones

Of faded Democracies.

Build a façade,

An assembly,

A Court,

An Army of Friends.

Fire the dissenters.

Everyone must be

On the same page.

Of the constitution?

No, no, no.

No one who upholds

The “institution.”

Fire them all!

Set fire to dissension.

What to do with bullets?

Start with rubber

And other suitable polymers,

Because rubber only wounds,

(For the most part,

The arms, legs, and back.

Don’t aim for the heart.)

Unleash the gas on their faces,

The tear gas,

Start with the good gas,

The gas that blinds.

Spray it from behind.

Nothing is evil

When you have to suppress

A social upheaval.

What’s that you ask?

Has it worked before?

The books don’t say.

Anyway, I don’t know.

Hey, the health system

In Cuba is great.

Without the embargo

We would have gone far.

What’s that you say?
About the dissenter

Who died in prison,

Not too long ago.

No, no, no.

All that is lies.

The Internet is evil

In a social upheaval.

Anyway, what were they

Supposed to do? 

Sit down and talk,

Hold someone’s hand?

That never brings

Justice to any land,

The books say so.

Anyway, go on and fight.
Let me know how it goes.

You have weapons,

They have stones.

Hold steady,

I’m sorry, I have to go.

My dinner is ready.

Sending you love

From somewhere else,

Europe, Argentina,

Or maybe the US.

Don’t worry,

Just arm your soldiers

And fill up your tanks.

No need for thanks.

Farewell,

I said, be well.

Be well!

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

For Marco Aurelio Coello

Marco Aurelio, 18, was arrested on February 12, 2014

Poem #1

Fire and Light

by Maria Alexandria Beech

Here in this land

Two peoples shared

Air and water,

The candlemakers

And firelighters.

The candlemakers

Ruled for ages,

Sages in the art of art,

Of building towers,

Naming flowers,

Houses that didn't

Fall apart.

Legend has it

A candlemaker

And firelighter once

Fell in love.

And the firelighter,

In unflinching radiance

Gave the candlemaker

Her light.

The candlemaker,

Afraid of light,

Shared the fire

With those he loved.

When only a few

Owned candle and fire,

The firelighters fought

The candlemakers,

With the sole desire,

To win their lot.

With candles and fire

In hand,

The firelighters

Set across the land

To give everyone

A candle and fire,

A moment to see

What the candlemakers saw.

In awe, the firelighters

celebrated and elaborated

Plans to build towers

And name flowers,

And learn the art of making art,

And houses that didn't

Fall apart.

The land they loathed,

Had a new shine of its own.

No longer in darkness,

They suddenly saw,

All were the same,

Each had a name,

And dreamt of a home.

If they could learn,

If they were shown,

How to make candles.

Each would own a home.

But the candlemakers

Scared of sharing 

The light,

Spent day and night

Making plans to

Take back their might.

When all the candles

Of the land were spent,

The firelighters sent

A chosen few to

The candlemakers,

To ask them for

Instructions on how to

Construct candles,

With wicker and wax.

The candlemakers laughed.

Too complicated they said.

Their darkened world

Had grown cold with hate.

They no longer desired

A fire or their home.

Even if the land

Lost its light

They would fight

Until the end,

Spend every coin

They possessed.

Obsessed and forlorn,

They went forth,

Wrapped in a flag,

Old and torn.

The firelighters,

Who had never ruled before,

Retreated.

They would not be defeated.

Blinded with rage,

Demanding restitution

For their destitution,

They burned every page

Of the constitution

in retribution for the

Burning inside.

Nowhere to hide,

Each side

Stayed in the dark,

And no one said a word.

Not a single sigh was heard.

With no light,

Neither side

Was seen again.

And then, someone said,

If there was wicker and wax,

to light the land,

I don't understand,

Why they disappeared.

You see, someone replied,

When two peoples have

Never worn each

Others' shoes,

They choose fear,

At least they did here,

By being scared of fire,

They plunged

Not only themselves,

But the entire world

Into darkness.

For those who lit the fire.