I know a poet by reputation from Guatemala. I have read him in translation. At 30 he was one of my go to poets. Otto Rene Castillo. Creating a Space for Love and Revolution: The Poetry of Otto René Castillo
Abstract / Resumen
In the poetry of Otto René Castillo, the theme of community is resounding and it manifests itself in the
Socialist Revolution. This paper studies how Castillo conveyed his vision of said Revolution, that is to say, of how Guatemala fit into his vision of a new worldwide order. The study begins by placing Castillo’s poetry in its artistic context and outlining his agenda that advocated that words be supported by actions. Next, a brief biography demonstrates how the poet-revolutionary lived out his agenda by committing himself to the military struggles of the Revolution. Then starts the literary analysis of his poetry beginning with the study of Castillo’s political commitment as he articulated it in verses that followed the conversationalist trends. In this context, the poet offers images of the imperialist world against which he was struggling. Then, there is an exploration of how the poet used the metaphor of love for its generative qualities to speak of the Revolution’s inherent promise of a better world. This section is followed by a close reading of the poetry Castillo wrote specifically to his amada and it focuses on his development of the theme of sacrifice. Lastly, the verses dedicated to his pueblo are examined to conclude that, in Castillo, sacrifice—stemming from love—was essential to the Revolution. https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1141&context=dissidences
One day
the apolitical intellectuals
of our land
will be interrogated
by the poorest of people.
They will be asked what they did
while their community
was extinguished,
like a sweet fire, small and alone.
No one will ask them about their fashion sense,
or their long lunches at the faculty club.
No one will want to know about their absurd
attempts to discover "the meaning of it all."
No one will care about or even understand
their economic outlook for
"the current recession."
They will not be questioned on
Greek mythology,
nor their new age remedy for
feelings of alienation.
They'll be asked nothing about their
post-modernist justifications for apathy, concocted as self-serving lies.
On that day the simple folk will come.
Those who had no place in the
papers, books and poems of
the apolitical intellectuals,
but who produced their
food and clothes, built
their homes and cars,
who cleaned their
offices, raised their children, and cooked
their meals,
and they'll ask:
"What did you do when the poor
suffered, when tenderness and
life burned out in them?"
Apolitical intellectuals,
you will not be able answer.
A vulture of silence
will eat at your guts. Your own misery
will pick at your soul.
And you will be mute
in your shame.