In his lyric post Miguel,Miguel, Miguel – homage to Miguel Enríquez – the Chilean poet Fesal Chain illustrated with this picture, without text, of Miguel Enríquez and I (photo here below). I wrote a comment to Fesal, which he made it public in his recent post Una bella y maravillosa carta de Marcello Ferrada Noli. Here I publish the comment I sent to Fesal. The text in English ensues down below. Miguel Enríquez is a hero of the armed Resistance against the fascist Coup D’Etat of 1973 in Chile. He died heroically in October 1975 after resisting alone with his AK47, and wounded, a several hours assault of the military forces, thus allowing his comrades to escape the siege. Miguel was a founder of the MIR, and its head commander.
Fesal, lúcido significante bello tu poema de Miguel. Nostálgico como todo lo que escribes.
Cinco años antes de aquella foto había yo publicado “Cantos de Rebelde Esperanza” (Imprenta Orellana, Concepción, 1962), libro que dediqué a mi amigo Miguel Enríquez. Y aquí quiero llegar a mi punto en este comentario. Una crítica legítima y oportuna sobre el qué hacer del poeta, que se atisba en Puebla. La que yo asumo con retrospectividad.
En el libro que refiero, escrito cuando teníamos 17 años, escribí un poema llamado “Quiero ser” (la edad temprana no es disculpa) y que termina así:
para sentir el calor
de la sangre del que muere
y al guardar su cadáver
quisiera ser madera
y quisiera ser lluvia
y besar la heroica frente
la del que vive con la muerte
besar con lluvia quisiera
Pero quiero ser poeta
y cantar a la victoria
y llorar a los caídos
y llorar a los que esperan”.
Ni cantos por su partida
Que tu ejemplo nos enseña
Que la lucha no termina”.
Las lágrimas buscan lágrimas que les respondan
Y cuando el gran alma de un pueblo sufre
Tiembla toda su vida
Se estremece toda alma viva
Y los puros de corazón van al sacrificio.
Fesal, your poem on Miguel is lucid, significant, and beautiful. Nostalgic as everything you write. Fairly, from the perspective of what the role of a poet shod be – and from the perspective of Miguel himself, I would say – you inserted the memory of a passage from Carlos Puebla’s ”Miguel Enriquez is called”, the Puebla homage to Miguel Enríquez in 1976.
A mutual homage, one may say, partly because Miguel was keen on the production and the cultural/political relevance of Carlos Puebla, and in fact he listened to the Cuban composer with delight. For instance, in between his legendary laughter, a sign of his intelligent humour, chanted Miguel “And the party was over, the commander arrived and ordered it to stop.” This was an allusion to the music of Carlos Puebla:
“They thought to continue profiting the one hundred percent,
in their fancy apartment houses,
throwing the people to suffering;
and they thought to continue in their cruel fashion,
conspiring against the poor,
to continue their exploitation . . .”
“I would prefer to be earth
to feel the heat blood
of the one falling down
and to shelve his dead body
I would rather be wood
and I would like to be rain
and to kiss the heroic forehead
of the one offering his life
with rain I would wish to kiss
and sing to victory
and mourn the fallen
and mourn those who wait.”
However, on that very subject utters Carlos Puebla – in other verses of the work dedicated to Miguel that you quote – another standpoint. It is a instead a veritable constructive and superior statement:
Tears seek tears that respond
Brotherly /