jueves, 7 de agosto de 2014

WHY WAR?


Drawing by Francisco de Goya ("Los desastres de la guerra")

Those on top are helium.
They are ghosts in their sheets,
In their suits, on high heels.
So safe in their massive rides,
Beyond fences made of steel.

Those below, after they feel
How much their bodies weigh
Exhausted from daily work,
Notice that the helium
Which had previously escaped,
Comes back as a hurricane
Dragging along bulks of iron.
The high beams of grand ideas
- Motherland, prayers, revenge -
That keep those on top relaxed
While they are lying on their beds
Need to stick their foundations
In nothing but living flesh.
The money machine demmands
Its good share of human blood
To function, from time to time.
The fire that keeps alert
The people who are below
Feeds from some of them as well
So that the hot air balloon
Can hover up in the sky.
The fact that there's east and west
Is good for hot air balloons -
That way collateral damage
Does not look up to the sky
After the next bomb has hit.

Helium starts the wind.
Oxygen of humans
- As always - pays the bill.

Copyright: Luis de la Rosa Rivera. All rights reserved. This poem is my own translation into English of the previous post in this blog: NO A LA GUERRA.



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