Here for Life - Rafael Jesús González

[Larry Robinson]

Here for Life
 
(Vandenberg Air Force Base, January 1983;
first blockade of the MX Missile test)
 
 
I am here —
I wear the old-ones’ jade —
it’s life, they said & precious,
turquoise I’ve sought to hone my vision,
& coral to cultivate the heart,
mother of pearl for purity.
 
I have put on what power I could
to tell you there are mountains
where the stones sleep —
       hawks nest there
& lichens older than the ice is cold.
 
The sea is vast & deep
keeping secrets
darker than the rocks are hard.
 
I am here to tell you
the Earth is made of things
so much themselves
they make the angels kneel.
We walk among them
& they are certain as the rain is wet
& they are fragile as the pine is tall.
 
       We, too, belong to them;
they count upon our singing,
the footfalls of our dance,
our children’s shouts, their laughter.
 
I am here for the unfinished song,
the uncompleted dance,
the healing,
the dreadful fakes of love.
       I am here for life
              & I will not go away.

 
 
           - Rafael Jesús González

Aquí por vida
 
(Base de Fuerza Aérea de Vandenberg, enero 1983;
primer bloqueo de la prueba del proyectil nuclear MX)
 
 
Aquí estoy —
llevo el jade de los ancianos —
es la vida, decían, y preciosa,
turquesa que he buscado
para darle filo a mi visión,
y coral para cultivar el corazón,
madreperla para la pureza.
 
Me he puesto el poder que pude
para decirles que hay montañas
donde duermen las piedras —
       los halcones anidan allí
y liquen más viejo
de lo que el hielo es frío.
 
El mar es vasto y profundo
guardando secretos
más oscuros
de lo que las rocas son duras.
 
Aquí estoy para decirles
que la Tierra es hecha de cosas
tan suyas mismas
que hacen a los ángeles arrodillarse.
Caminamos entre ellas
y son ciertas como la lluvia es húmeda
y son frágiles como el pino es alto.
 
Nosotros también les pertenecemos;
cuentan con nuestro cantar,
los pasos de nuestro bailar,
los gritos de nuestr at s hij at s, su risa.
 
Aquí estoy por la canción sin acabar,
el baile incompleto,
el sanar,
las terribles adujas del amor.
       Aquí estoy por vida
              y no me iré.

 
 
          - Rafael Jesús González








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.
	~ Howard Zinn





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