Letter to a Friend in El Salvador

By Salima Rivera
Your country bleeds, Antonio.
Blood soaks the flowers
that bloom in your mountains.
I hear it drip in the conscience
of good men who aim their guns
and pray for victory.
The peaceful men lay in their graves
free of the tears we shed in sorrow.
A priest spoke out to the people, Antonio.
He preached about choice
and the manifest right of all people
to be free to choose.
He chose to love his people.
We live with your daily struggles
and images of violence reflected
on vacant eyes;
some wish to return death.
They see only a red evil,
not men daring to rise against
self-imposed masters.
And I saw a picture in the paper, Antonio.
It was of a young man who joined the marines.
His parents were very proud.
I stared at his new stiffness
wondering if he’ll visit your mountains
to gather the flowers.

Notes:

“Letter to a Friend in El Salvador” was first published in ECOS: A Latino Journal of People’s Culture and Literature 2, no. 1 (1982), and subsequently in It’s Not About Dreams (Erato/Poetry, 2014).

This poem is part of the portfolio “Salima Rivera: A Chicago Rican Poet.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2024 issue.

Source: Poetry (March 2024)