<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class="">Here for Life</div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class="">(Vandenberg Air Force Base, January 1983;</i></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class="">first blockade of the MX Missile test)</i></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class=""> </i></span></div><div class=""> </div><div class="">I am here —</div><div class="">I wear the old-ones’ jade —</div><div class="">it’s life, they said & precious,</div><div class="">turquoise I’ve sought to hone my vision,</div><div class="">& coral to cultivate the heart,</div><div class="">mother of pearl for purity.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">I have put on what power I could</div><div class="">to tell you there are mountains</div><div class="">where the stones sleep —</div><div class=""> hawks nest there</div><div class="">& lichens older than the ice is cold.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">The sea is vast & deep</div><div class="">keeping secrets</div><div class="">darker than the rocks are hard.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">I am here to tell you</div><div class="">the Earth is made of things</div><div class="">so much themselves</div><div class="">they make the angels kneel.</div><div class="">We walk among them</div><div class="">& they are certain as the rain is wet</div><div class="">& they are fragile as the pine is tall.</div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> We, too, belong to them;</div><div class="">they count upon our singing,</div><div class="">the footfalls of our dance,</div><div class="">our children’s shouts, their laughter.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">I am here for the unfinished song,</div><div class="">the uncompleted dance,</div><div class="">the healing,</div><div class="">the dreadful fakes of love.</div><div class=""> I am here for life</div><div class=""> & I will not go away.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> - Rafael Jesús González</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Aquí por vida</div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><i style="font-size: 14px;" class="">(Base de Fuerza Aérea de Vandenberg, enero 1983;</i></div><div class=""><i style="font-size: 14px;" class="">primer bloqueo de la prueba del proyectil nuclear MX)</i></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Aquí estoy —</div><div class="">llevo el jade de los ancianos —</div><div class="">es la vida, decían, y preciosa,</div><div class="">turquesa que he buscado</div><div class="">para darle filo a mi visión,</div><div class="">y coral para cultivar el corazón,</div><div class="">madreperla para la pureza.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Me he puesto el poder que pude</div><div class="">para decirles que hay montañas</div><div class="">donde duermen las piedras —</div><div class=""> los halcones anidan allí</div><div class="">y liquen más viejo</div><div class="">de lo que el hielo es frío.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">El mar es vasto y profundo</div><div class="">guardando secretos</div><div class="">más oscuros</div><div class="">de lo que las rocas son duras.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Aquí estoy para decirles</div><div class="">que la Tierra es hecha de cosas</div><div class="">tan suyas mismas</div><div class="">que hacen a los ángeles arrodillarse.</div><div class="">Caminamos entre ellas</div><div class="">y son ciertas como la lluvia es húmeda</div><div class="">y son frágiles como el pino es alto.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Nosotros también les pertenecemos;</div><div class="">cuentan con nuestro cantar,</div><div class="">los pasos de nuestro bailar,</div><div class="">los gritos de nuestr@s hij@s, su risa.</div><div class=""> </div><div class="">Aquí estoy por la canción sin acabar,</div><div class="">el baile incompleto,</div><div class="">el sanar,</div><div class="">las terribles adujas del amor.</div><div class=""> Aquí estoy por vida</div><div class=""> y no me iré.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> - Rafael Jesús González</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class="">
<div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 8px; line-height: normal; font-family: Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px;" class="">To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only7 the worst, it destroys our capacity7 to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 8px; line-height: normal; font-family: Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>~ Howard Zinn</span></p></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
</div>
<br class=""></div></body></html>