Hear Magalena Gomez (MP3) at Amherst College, February 9, 2003. Introduction by Joshua Jackson, Hampshire College. (Original audio recording courtesy of Ed Russell; conversion to current file format by Charles Jenks. This audio file ©Charles Jenks 2003; may not be copied or distributed without the permission.)
Poet Magdalena Gomez graced 400 people with her poems of peace, including Write to Remember. She was a featured speaker at Johnson Chapel, Amherst College on Februray 9, 2003. About 400 people gathered there after the Five-College Antiwar Coalition march from the University of Massachusetts, through the center of Amherst to Amherst College. We thank Magdalena for giving us permission to print this poem.
Write to Remember
I am not writing against war today
I am writing
to remember the eyes
of the 5,000 children
who’ve died each month
since our sanctions on Iraq
I am writing to remember
the people in my life I have
yet to forgive
as I march for peace
I am writing to remember
the genocide of AIDS
in Africa
condoned by lascivious hands
inside government pockets
in the safer sex of greed
I am writing to remember
young men
trading invisibility
for uniforms
decorated in shiny
promises
to see the world
and get a good
education
for free
for free
for free
in the land of the brave
the home of the free
the free
where nothing
is free
I am writing to remember
the availability of crack
over books and pencils
I am writing to remember
the corporate takeover
of prisons
the twisting of troubled
lives
burdened minds
into profits
capitalism’s shank
severing the nerve
between ankle
and foot
impeding
the march to freedom
I am writing to remember
those who work three jobs
to put food on the table
and Gap in the closet
dignity by consumption
a power jones
in the absence
justice
I am writing to remember
the sanitized neighborhoods
where I am invited
to be professionally
Puerto Rican
for a day and feast on
arroz con gandules
in the school cafeteria
I am writing to remember
the parents disappointed
by the birth of girls
who think their children don’t know
I am writing to remember
the boys admonished to be men
in the presence of pain
the girls told to relax
in a moment of righteous rage
I am writing to remember
the first lessons of battle
good and evil
the Fall of man
God versus Satan
Eve punished for
knowing
the serpent had
all the brains
Cain killed Abel
and Moses
became Charlton Heston
I am writing to remember
that we all belong to death
she loves no child more
than the other
and grieves for
how we squander our lives
unaware of her
in our busy hellos
and thoughtless good-byes
I am writing to remember
my neighbor
and his flag tattoos
the ass of his car
turned up at me
in love it or leave it form
I am writing to remember
I am here talking to those
who already hate war
while he sits home alone
I am writing to remember
the times sarcasm
and wit
have replaced truth in my life
I am writing to remember
that if I didn’t buy
Starbucks
I could feed more
of the hungry
I am writing to remember
that sometimes
I secretly call white folks
“crackers”
I am writing to remember
that I don’t trust the rich
I am writing to remember
that I have not had
a good belly laugh
in a very long time
and take myself too seriously
I am writing to remember
that what I do
is much less than who I am
and knowing who I am
fuels the power
of my dissent
I am writing to remember
to go into the dark places
and tell the stories
of which I am most afraid
I am writing to remember
that saying I hate war
is not as deep a journey
as asking myself
“why?”
I am writing to remember:
Iraq I am Thou
Palestine I am Thou
Israel I am Thou
North Korea I am Thou
South Korea I am Thou
China I am Thou
Taiwan I am Thou
Friend I am Thou
Enemy I am Thou
Because of you
I am never alone
I am writing to remember
that love is
all I can take
with me
or leave
behind
when I am
dead
and maggots
fill my mouth
instead or poems
I am writing to remember
that I am bound
to all that lives
and only in that
knowing
can I truly
be free
as America
explodes
all over the world
into a brutal nightmare
of forgetting
America
you make me
feel ashamed;
America
I am Thou
.Writing to Remember Copyright 2003, Magdalena Gómez,
May not be duplicated in any form without the written consent of the author.
(Photos © Charlie Jenks 2003)
Page created February 11, 2003 by Charlie Jenks.
