Return to the Countryside
Women pounded the grain
for a vegetable stew
night was imminent
they had to hurry because lanterns
were forbidden
when the gong called for dinner
the soldiers did not share the meal
with the peasants
the next morning half of them
had denounced their parents
the other half wore posters on their bodies
condemned to certain death
the order was to climb the mountain
to live up in the heights among the lowliest
but the sky answered with floods
so they returned to the cities
looking for carrion
that was my army
ravenous crows
Rationing
In the line a woman shouts
there’s flour
I think of warm biscuits
Soon I hear
only rice is left
but my happiness is futile
They’re bringing sugar
Oh! miracle
I will wait
I hear words ricochet
the sugar is gone
The line begins to disperse
I persist
eventually they will bring something
finally a hand offers me a chicken
I leave with my treasure
In a bookstore nearby
a friend has the nerve to read me a long poem
the poet doesn’t know why I flee
such an ordinary goodbye fills me with guilt
You must live in a country with hunger
to understand how a poem’s symmetry
can be broken
by the slow drip of guts and blood