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Dear Che - A poem by K.G. Sankarapillai
A Poem by K.G. Sankarapillai
Dear Che
Dear Che,
you came to our university campus
in mid sixties
with a comrade and a modernist friend
with visuals of jungles past and present
with a vision of a new battle for justice.
Like a fresh wind of October
you joined us
moved us
renewed us
and smoothened our entry into history
with love, dreams and plans.
You told us about the sleeping rebel powers
of mountains and forests of the new minds;
quite often you talked of the day when
‘the Andes would become
the Sierra Maestra of America.’
Our modernist friend said:
you are the red star over the world
tarnished by America;
you are the future of the world
crippled by America;
you are the Jesus of the modern age
crucified by America.
Although you remained evergreen in us
showed us the exit to the oceans
from the lyrical ponds of our
post Independent Indian youth;
the exit to the storm from the water lily breeze
of our weeping romantic poems;
dear doctor, you redefined us
living with us
living for us
living in us
passing the confidence of torrents into our deserts
weaving sunlit paths into our prodigal nights.
You brought world into our words
and future into our past.
You opened blast-furnaces for our ore.
This poem was Translated from Malayalam by A. Lakshmi. The poem was part of a anthology ‘Che in Verse’, edited by Garvin O’Toole and Georgina Gimenez which was published by Aflame Books. K.G.Sankarapillai has won the National Award for Poetry in India on two occasions.
courtesy AHRC
April 26th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Absolutely brilliant ! Che Guevara shall always live on. Here was a man of great conviction, honour and perserverance. His “motorcycle diaries” is an absolute beauty…His compassion for the lepers, struggle for the poor and belief were some prime example of a prodigious comrade !
Thank you for such a wonderful translation.
-ssd
April 26th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Very good poem.
Apart from the motorcycle diaries, the “reminiscence of the Cuban revolution” is a very interesting book. The Bolivian Diaries are also interesting.
Recently, 13 volumes of Che’s economic writings have been published in Havana. They are mostly in Spanish. Having read some reviews, I can help being intrigued to read the original works. This shows the depth of Che’s theoretical contributions. He was a complete revolutionary: romantically, practically, and ideologically.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
One afternoon, I was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home. But when I walked into the house, he followed me, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back. He resumed his position in the hallway and slept for an hour.
This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: “Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. ”
The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: “He lives in a home with ten children - he’s trying to catch up on his sleep.”
I cried from laughter
Sorry, if not left a message on Rules.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Heart touching poetry.