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Who
me? A supporter of the Dictatorship?
don't make me laugh Volodia old friend
that's news to me
You're trying to pull words out of my mouth
o.k. let's have it your way
this poem is my challenge
to discuss seriously face to face
Chile's problems
the world's problems if you'd like
you'll see how well-armed I am
unemployment
torture
authoritarian rule
the world record in atmospheric contamination
something which I know doesn't worry you in the least
good 19th-century industrialist that you are
now it's your turn
let's clear the air once and for all
sure just yesterday
we had money to spend
but the stores had nothing to sell
the money was worthless
producers hid their goods
the law of the land:
sabotage everything
you're absolutely right in that
have times changed?
now the store shelves are piled high
but money's nowhere to be seen
choose if you see a difference
only the well-to-do can buy things
the poor might as well starve to death
things can't go on
this way
What about the destruction of the forests in the south
the using up of the earth's raw materials
and the erosion of the land
the seas that are dying
DDT has already reached
the land of the penguins
the never-melting snows of Mt. Aconcagua
even the wombs of Chilean mothers
you have to call a
spade a spade
we're a step away from the Apocalypse
And what the hell
are you people doing about it
just repeating the capitalist farce word for word
Easter get on your knees
it's the same medicine for the same disease
They know they can
wipe out the planet 40 times over
with their present atomic arsenal
and still they go on making more and more
It's a disgrace you
can't put into words!
I'm very sorry my
dear comrade Bolodia
it isn't me
you're the ones time left behind
CAPITALISTS AND SOCIALISTS
OF THE WORLD UNITE
before it's too late
R.S.V.P.
Domingo Zárate Vega
alias the Christ
of Elqui
Box 480154
Conchalí
translated
by David Unger
traducido por David Unger
en:
Antipoems: New and Selected (edited by David Unger), New York,
New Directions, 1985.
Note: Volodia Teitelboim,
a Communist and former Chilean senator, now lives in Russia.
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