Veronica Pamoukaghlian
URUGUAY
The Word
My blood is marked by genocide
on the two sides
of these Atlantic lines
My fate was sealed with the blood stains
of cotton workers from Marash
slaughtered by the ottoman
and the mixed blood
of conquerors
and massacred
of masters and estranged slaves
The rot of colonialism
lurks underneath
our 15 seconds democracy
My eyes were numbed
by what I hadn´t seen
after the dirty war was over
after the bowels of the Earth
had vomited
bones in Uruguay
lifeless infant mummies
in the soft heart
of Africa
after the tide brought in
the loot
of generals,
green men of power and no shame
My past was carved with knives
on children´s bones
in the mountains
of Leninakan
with hanged peasants
on the slopes of Ararat
My human pride was dumped
in Rio de la Plata
one summer night
in a death flight
that time when I
had learnt to sing
before I grasped
the word
The word was born
from the colonial rot
under our soil
and under Africa
The word was black
and cast a deadly storm
before the sun
The word was Genocide
April 2006 Published by ARABESQUES REVIEW (Algiers)
:
INDIAN KINGS
I´d seen them
in the galleys
under the dust
and bleach
cleaners, servants
lesser men
who made my bed
and made me feel ashamed
I saw them dance
on INDIAN night
after a fourteen hour day
under the rugs
I saw them frown and sweat
on elevators
and fear me
because I had more stripes
upon my vest
And just today
a picture
an Indian honeymoon
I recognized the faces
but they´d no uniforms
Princes, Kings
and colourful
jewels, women
the happiness
of being yourself
Kings they had been
in INDIA
KINGS with their turbans
their tunics, silk and threads of gold
with the same faces
of the galley boys
and their dead souls
I never thought
those small dark men
who learnt Yes sir, before they learnt their name
and scrub and dust
and dance like girls
on Indian day
Could have been KINGS
one day in INDIA
not long ago
And of me too,
a Wanderer
I thought perhaps
I´m nothing now
in Spain
or in America
and once perchance
I´ve been
a King
in Uruguay
and I forgot
the regal music
the regal dance
CANDOMBE
my soul
the thing I am
Copyright,
Veronica Pamoukaghlian. |