An Open Letter to the People of the South - Geo Taylor

[Lawrence Robinson]

An Open Letter to the People of the South

Mis amigos, some Norte Americanos have our ears wide open
to your painful cries.

We are tired of trampling through your fields and cities
with automatic weapons in our hands.

We know this is not our war, 
though our flag waves over the green-clad invaders
who jump out of the familiar helicopters.

We are tired to death of the grim, proud looks
of the American conquistadors.

Sometimes mis amigos, I am afraid that the middle ages
still reign with their feudal brutality in your homelands.

While we eat our breakfast, the salt and bananas taken from your countries
whisper to us unceasingly, 'Mercy, por favor, mercy.'

Is all the food you grow taken away and fed to wealthy people?
Are you left with the sand and weary dust of history to eat?
Is everyone down there afraid of sharp noises in the night?

Some of us wander through the nighttime American streets 
wondering how we can help.
We can hear the quiet sibilant Spanish voices 
which fill our restaurants and offices
with soft, desperate intensity.

My friends if all the sympathetic people in my country
who are listening to your cries of pain 
came south together, 
the weight of our good intentions 
would sink your country.

	- Geo Taylor
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