drunk on war and violence
Medellin will sink into sadness
as soon as you've left we'll stay there
waiting for the light simply
to thank you for having come
. . .
thank you for coming to be here with us
desplazados who have fled our villages
our past our present laid waste
what future for our children here in La Cruz
it's our soul they've torn out
back there with our lands
. . .
sporadic gunfire from the mountain in front of us
tranquilla a woman says to me
on the path back
the fighting is far away
under the slow spirals
of black hawks
a bottle of Chilean wine
passes from hand to hand
. . .
I don't know anything about this country you say
you can live comfortably in Pennsylvania
and know nothing about the rest of the world
tell me about it you say your voice poised
like an interrupted caress
. . .
a bomb went off in the middle of the night
right next to our hotel in Bogotá
that opened my eyes you say
since then I've tried to understand
. . .
libertad cries the crowd standing as one
after a poem is read
in the Carlos-Vieco auditorium
LIBERTAD

Translation: Marilyn Hacker