jueves, diciembre 23, 2004

Ojalá pase algo...

Impunity… impunity… impunity. Check this out… yesterday Pinochet’s health was once again ok’d and still there is no punishment for his crimes against humanity. Strange how his crimes would be linked unmistakably with the anti-socialist US politics of the seventies (and still today!!!) including special training by special forces in the most effective torture methods (yes, the US probably did write the book, and Abu Graihb looks eerily like the underground school-cum-torture chambers that proliferated in the southern cone just thirty odd years ago). And Argentina's Menem, it would seem, left Chile the same day claiming that he (at 74) is going to come back to power after his 10-year right-wing strangle-hold that left Argentina’s economy once-again trashed (not to mention the social services). All this and our very favorite shrub will probably be slathering on the grease as he get ready for an All-American Christmas photo-op of some kind or another, with his carefully machinated smile… and his disgustingly comfortable family.

So, here, again my words are so much less than those of others, I dedicate this song to not just the current administration (the song was originally written to the US by a Cuban Trovador – at the beginning of the cold-war, incidentally) but to all those whose presence is imposed on others with often disastrous results. You all know who you are, but then _you_ won’t ever feel alluded to.

As a side note for those not familiar with Spanish linguistics, the term "ojalá" stems from Spain's 800 years of Muslim rule, and refers to the will of God – Allah… Meaning essentially, “would that it were”… but more along the lines of “if god wills it”, so in no way should this be interpreted as a threat, but rather as a deep and dear desire of so many of us…who feel our hands tied tighter with every tug of resistance.

Ojalá – Silvio Rodriguez
Ojalá que las hojas no te toquen el cuerpo cuando caigan,
para que no las puedas convertir en cristal.
Ojalá que la lluvia deje de ser milagro que
baja por tu cuerpo.

Ojalá que la luna pueda salir sin ti.
Ojalá que la tierra no te bese los pasos.
Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante,
la palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta.

Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto,
una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve.
Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte,
para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre.

En todos los segundos, en todas las visiones.
Ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones.
Ojalá que la aurora, no dé gritos que caiganen mi espalda.
Ojalá que tu nombre, se le olvide a esa voz.

Ojalá las paredes no retengan tu ruido de
camino cansado.
Ojalá que el deseo se vaya tras de ti,
a tu viejo gobierno de difuntos y flores.

Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante,
la palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta.
Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto,
una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve.

Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte,
para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre
En todos los segundos, en todas las visiones.
Ojalá que no pueda
tocarte ni en canciones.

Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto,
una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve.
Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte,
para no verte tanto, para no verte
siempre