Friday, August 17, 2012

The Heavenly Poets by Pablo Neruda


 What have you done  
  you intellectualists?  
  you mystifiers?  
  you false existentialist sorcerers?  
  you surrealistic poppies shining on a tomb?  
  you pale grubs in the capitalist cheese?  
  What did you do  
  about the kingdom of anguish?  
  about this dark human being  
  kicked into submission?  
  about this head  
  submerged in manure?  
  about this essence  
  of harsh, trampled lives?  
  You didn't do anything but escape  
  you sold piles of debris  
  you looked for heavenly hairs  
  cowardly plants, broken fingernails  
  "pure beauty" "magic".  
  Your works were those of poor frightened folk  
  trying to keep your eyes from looking  
  trying to protect their delicate pupils  
  so you could make for your living  
  a plate of dirty scraps  
  which the masters flung to you.  
  Without seeing that the stones are in agony,  
  without defending, without conquering,  
  blinder than the wreaths  
  in the cemetery when the rain  
  falls on the motionless  
  rotten flowers on the tomb. 

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