Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Karloz Atl

Each form of bringing death brings forth a song

From my blood you wish to build an Empire
to wipe out whole jungles risen from waterfalls that sing in mother tongues
waterfalls of women
waterfalls of men

you long to open fire with Constitution in hand
other ways of “loving” “giving birth” “making fire”

to hush an ache that has been drawn out hundreds of years
in the name of gods that came from other seas
in the name of Gospels from another world

in the name of Progress
you want to make the god that lives inside me wither
but i am everlasting
the deathless blood that lifespan to lifespan
has lived on
even without land
even without food
even in the worst hardship
i am my earth
i am my own fatherland
i am the seed of myself man and of myself woman
love lives in me
and also wrath
in this thirst for bloodshed is born a god
who dies in the same breath
i breathe out holiness
it’s in my tears
and in the almighty strength of all the mother tongues of this world
and other worlds
i curse you from the womb to your last gasp
i curse your laws
i curse your flag
i curse your mouth

sunk in your most fearsome blackness you hold up a Nation
born in hate
suckled by Governments with golden teeth to bite us
Letters drawn from my blood

and the thousand ways to bleed that you wreak upon my body
will be the thousand ways i will keep singing my love beneath the earth
even if you bury me under it in the jungles
even if you Force me to Disappear
even Mutilated by Soldiers
even if they pluck out my tongue and my eyes
even Imprisoned
even if you Penetrate my womb and my asshole
even cut into pieces
even if you Dissolve me in acid
i will sing
because i am a crystal that has taken lifetimes to form
and each form you bring me death brings forth a song
listen to this
because it runs deep
lifetimes of songs of love
the men dead and women dead at the hands of the State
have raised themselves
to curse you through my lips and through my skin
Amazonica Latina Morena Mestiza Indigena Migrant
waterfalls of pain that should never have been
and that shall be no more
because this Voice sings it
the Voices of my great great grandmothers and grandfathers
shine more brightly than the gold for which you killed us
and at the same time
fill us with strength that springs up under the earth

this the oldest song of love
flowering with Force and Fury
for five hundred years
to bless me
and give fullness to my being

no death
listen carefully
none of your sins
listen close

i am my fatherland my motherland
i am my goddess my god

no pain
only love         in my name.

En cada forma de dar muerte nace un canto

En cada forma de dar muerte nace un canto

Quieres con mi sangre hacer un imperio
asesinar selvas enteras nacidas de cascadas que cantan en lenguas indígenas
cascadas de mujeres
cascadas de hombres

Anhelas con la Constitución en la mano atravesar de balas
formas distintas de amar de dar a luz hacer fuego

enmudecer un dolor que desde hace siglos has prolongado
en nombre de dioses venidos de otro océano
en nombre de evangelios de otro mundo

en nombre del progreso
haz querido desaparecer el dios que habita en mí
pero soy la eternidad
la sangre inmortal que generación a generación
ha sobrevivido
aun sin tierra
aun sin alimento
aun en la pobreza más extrema
yo soy mi territorio
yo soy mi propia patria
yo soy la fundación de mi misma y de mi mismo
el amor habita en mí
y también la furia
en este deseo de venganza nace dios
y muere simultáneamente
lo sagrado está en mi aliento
y está en mis lágrimas
y por el hermoso poder que tienen todas las lenguas indígenas de este mundo
y del otro
te maldigo desde tu placenta hasta tu último resuello
maldigo tus leyes
y maldigo tu bandera
lo mismo que tu boca

Sumergido en tu negrura más terrible sostienes una nación
nacida en el odio
amamantada por gobiernos con dientes de oro para mordernos
letras creadas sobre mi sangre

Y las mil formas de sangrar que hagas sobre mi cuerpo
serán las mil formas en que seguiré cantando mi amor bajo la tierra
aunque me entierres dentro de ella en las selvas
Aunque me desaparezcas
aun mutilado por soldados
aunque me arranquen la lengua y los ojos
aun preso
aunque penetres mi útero y mi ano
aun descuartizado
aunque me deshagas en ácido
habré de cantar
porque soy un cuarzo que desde hace siglos se ha ido formando
y en cada forma de darme muerte nace un canto
y óyelo
porque es profundo
siglos de cantos de amor
los muertos y las muertas a manos del Estado
se han levantado
para maldecirte por mis labios y mi piel
amazónica latina morena mestiza indígena migrante
cascadas de un dolor que nunca tuvo que haber sido
y que no será más
porque esta voz lo está cantando
las voces de mis ancestras y ancestros
iluminan más que todo el oro por el que nos has matado
y al mismo tiempo
nos llenan de un poder que germinó bajo la tierra

Este canto del cariño más antiguo
floreció con la fuerza y el furor
de 500 años
para bendecirme
y hacer plena mi existencia

Ninguna muerte
escúchalo bien
Ninguno de tus crímenes
escúchalo atentamente

Yo soy mi patria soy mi matria
yo soy mi dios mi diosa

Ningún dolor
solamente el amor   será en mi nombre.
Close

Each form of bringing death brings forth a song

From my blood you wish to build an Empire
to wipe out whole jungles risen from waterfalls that sing in mother tongues
waterfalls of women
waterfalls of men

you long to open fire with Constitution in hand
other ways of “loving” “giving birth” “making fire”

to hush an ache that has been drawn out hundreds of years
in the name of gods that came from other seas
in the name of Gospels from another world

in the name of Progress
you want to make the god that lives inside me wither
but i am everlasting
the deathless blood that lifespan to lifespan
has lived on
even without land
even without food
even in the worst hardship
i am my earth
i am my own fatherland
i am the seed of myself man and of myself woman
love lives in me
and also wrath
in this thirst for bloodshed is born a god
who dies in the same breath
i breathe out holiness
it’s in my tears
and in the almighty strength of all the mother tongues of this world
and other worlds
i curse you from the womb to your last gasp
i curse your laws
i curse your flag
i curse your mouth

sunk in your most fearsome blackness you hold up a Nation
born in hate
suckled by Governments with golden teeth to bite us
Letters drawn from my blood

and the thousand ways to bleed that you wreak upon my body
will be the thousand ways i will keep singing my love beneath the earth
even if you bury me under it in the jungles
even if you Force me to Disappear
even Mutilated by Soldiers
even if they pluck out my tongue and my eyes
even Imprisoned
even if you Penetrate my womb and my asshole
even cut into pieces
even if you Dissolve me in acid
i will sing
because i am a crystal that has taken lifetimes to form
and each form you bring me death brings forth a song
listen to this
because it runs deep
lifetimes of songs of love
the men dead and women dead at the hands of the State
have raised themselves
to curse you through my lips and through my skin
Amazonica Latina Morena Mestiza Indigena Migrant
waterfalls of pain that should never have been
and that shall be no more
because this Voice sings it
the Voices of my great great grandmothers and grandfathers
shine more brightly than the gold for which you killed us
and at the same time
fill us with strength that springs up under the earth

this the oldest song of love
flowering with Force and Fury
for five hundred years
to bless me
and give fullness to my being

no death
listen carefully
none of your sins
listen close

i am my fatherland my motherland
i am my goddess my god

no pain
only love         in my name.

Each form of bringing death brings forth a song

From my blood you wish to build an Empire
to wipe out whole jungles risen from waterfalls that sing in mother tongues
waterfalls of women
waterfalls of men

you long to open fire with Constitution in hand
other ways of “loving” “giving birth” “making fire”

to hush an ache that has been drawn out hundreds of years
in the name of gods that came from other seas
in the name of Gospels from another world

in the name of Progress
you want to make the god that lives inside me wither
but i am everlasting
the deathless blood that lifespan to lifespan
has lived on
even without land
even without food
even in the worst hardship
i am my earth
i am my own fatherland
i am the seed of myself man and of myself woman
love lives in me
and also wrath
in this thirst for bloodshed is born a god
who dies in the same breath
i breathe out holiness
it’s in my tears
and in the almighty strength of all the mother tongues of this world
and other worlds
i curse you from the womb to your last gasp
i curse your laws
i curse your flag
i curse your mouth

sunk in your most fearsome blackness you hold up a Nation
born in hate
suckled by Governments with golden teeth to bite us
Letters drawn from my blood

and the thousand ways to bleed that you wreak upon my body
will be the thousand ways i will keep singing my love beneath the earth
even if you bury me under it in the jungles
even if you Force me to Disappear
even Mutilated by Soldiers
even if they pluck out my tongue and my eyes
even Imprisoned
even if you Penetrate my womb and my asshole
even cut into pieces
even if you Dissolve me in acid
i will sing
because i am a crystal that has taken lifetimes to form
and each form you bring me death brings forth a song
listen to this
because it runs deep
lifetimes of songs of love
the men dead and women dead at the hands of the State
have raised themselves
to curse you through my lips and through my skin
Amazonica Latina Morena Mestiza Indigena Migrant
waterfalls of pain that should never have been
and that shall be no more
because this Voice sings it
the Voices of my great great grandmothers and grandfathers
shine more brightly than the gold for which you killed us
and at the same time
fill us with strength that springs up under the earth

this the oldest song of love
flowering with Force and Fury
for five hundred years
to bless me
and give fullness to my being

no death
listen carefully
none of your sins
listen close

i am my fatherland my motherland
i am my goddess my god

no pain
only love         in my name.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère