Roque Dalton, was a Salvadoran poet, essayist, journalist, political activist, and intellectual. He is considered one of Latin America’s most compelling poets. He wrote emotionally strong, sometimes sarcastic, and image-loaded works dealing with life, death, love, and politics. The Warriors Resting Place and On Headaches are the two poems being recited by Gurleen Judge.
The Warrior’s Resting Place
The dead are getting more restless each day.
They used to be easy
we’d put on stiff collars flowers
praised their names on long lists
shrines of the homeland
remarkable shadows
monstrous marble.
The corpses signed away for posterity
returned to formation
and marched to the beat of our old music.
But not anymore
the dead
have changed.
They get all ironic
they ask questions.
It seems to me they’ve started to realise
they’re becoming the majority!
On Headaches
It’s great being a communist
although it gives you many headaches.
Because communists’ headaches
are historical, that is
they won’t go away with painkillers
only with the realisation of Paradise on Earth.
That’s how it is.
Under capitalism our heads hurt
and our heads are ripped off.
In the struggle for Revolution the head is a delayed-action bomb.
In the construction of socialism
we plan for the headache
which doesn’t alleviate it – quite the contrary.
Communism will be, among other things,
an aspirin the size of the sun.