Fearless voyager and globetrotting poet John Gallas has been on the road again....
Cuba: Little Red Rhymes
 |
| Havana |
1.
Passing houses abandoned after the Revolution: Havana
Dying of ennui and rum,
the maids of Miramar
totter from room to room,
supported by vacuum cleaners,
tidying the shuttered halls,
and hope.
2.
The 8-year-old Professor of the Literary Drive
Afternoons, little Miguel
cuts the cane
with the village,
about their knees,
and has no need to stoop.
Evenings, he stands
on a beanbox
and writes what they must read
and reads what they must write :
and after a year’s work –
s-u-g-a-r !
3.
Three twilight scenes near Cienfuegos
I
a man leans his neck
under the pump :
his great luminous horse
is a white portrait.
II
someone on a mule
looks in at a house window :
his head cut off
by the yellow blade of light.
III
down a lane
of sugar cane
a woman walks her little dog
between her feet :
they shuffle dancing
through the moon.
4. The Bay of Pigs : Angel’s comb
Angel died, shot through the comb
by bastard imperialist Yankee shit.
There is no Happy Heaven here
for Angels. For his immortality
the Country will provide.
Patria o muerte !
5. The appearance of a guajiro over the brow of a hill near Topes de Collantes
Hat like a beehive in a basket.
Brow of dull nobility.
A stolid lip ; a coupon shirt.
Steady head of horse.
A round of rope ; bowlegged breeks.
A pomp of hooves.
All ajog up, up.
Splendour of the rising sun.
6. Fidel and the doves of peace
Release the birdies ! Brothers ! Sisters ! O !
Amidst the white and lightsome liftoff one
of luminous feather
lands on Fidel’s head.
Elegido de Dios !
Bim bom bum
Benedictus Bazookas
and a bottle of rum.
 |
| El Morro Fort |
7. Looking down from El Morro Fort, near Santiago de Cuba
Captain Morgan sails the sunset sea.
I watch him whisper by. He watches me.
Softly through the silver-bloodied Bay,
he steers my boyhood treasure-chest away.
8. At the mausoleum of Che Guevara
Dear Che, I beheld the Offered Plate,
and the Bone of Your Brow ;
and, after, a dictionary,
open at ‘Inestimable’.
 |
| Fidel's famous kerosene fridge in his mountain hideout |
9. Leaving Cuba with a souvenir
Dear Mikey, I have bought you
a Revolutionary Fridge Magnet
to assist in your recognition of Social Injustice,
and encourage your willingness to do something about it.
The band have gone home.
Lightning dances in the sky.
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