Imagine the Angels of Bread By Martin Espada
This is the year that squatters evict landlords,
gazing like admirals from the rail
of the roofdeck
or levitating hands in praise
of steam in the shower;
gazing like admirals from the rail
of the roofdeck
or levitating hands in praise
of steam in the shower;
Manila Favelas this is the year that shawled refugees deport judges who stare at the floor and their swollen feet as files are stamped with their destination…. |
Mexican Border Wall Arizona If the abolition of slave-manacles began as a vision of hands without manacles, then this is the year; |
if the shutdown of extermination camps
began as imagination of a land
without barbed wire or the crematorium,
then this is the year;
began as imagination of a land
without barbed wire or the crematorium,
then this is the year;
Auschwitz Krema if every rebellion begins with the idea that conquerors on horseback are not many-legged gods, that they too drown if plunged in the river, then this is the year. |
Congolese Woman
fill with the angels of bread.
|
From Angels in America |
Wow - that is one powerful, powerful poem.
ReplyDeleteYes, Meri. I was deeply moved by its message and had to find photos to accompany it. Thank you for reading I apppreciate it!
ReplyDeleteAs I posted before, if only people could view others through the same eyes with which we see our own children. :(
ReplyDeleteI miss one particular photo from the previous version that was quite touching... a group of women trying to cross the border, holding onto their children.
I just felt so sad for them, fleeing towards a better life... hoping their families would have a chance to grow healthy and prosperous.
Thanks Tara. Yes, I understand. Perhaps I should put that one back. It was wonderful. I thought that this one expressed what had happened to this woman but the other took in the larger scope of the situation. I will see if I can do it without "technical difficulties".
ReplyDeleteWords fall flat in describing how deeply I am moved by these words & images. Thank you, dear Noelle!
ReplyDeleteI am moved beyond words that this keyboard can express.
ReplyDelete