Arnoldo García

For all September 11s

la revolución emplumada | the revolution to be human

After the last sky,
the birds will fly in the sky of my lungs,
against the horizon of my heart,
crushing the barbed-wire of my veins,
entering into the great migration of my bones,
the human revolution,
the human revelation,
the human rebellion,
the last sky,
the only sky...

*

The Telephone Call
(fragments)

New York City alone has more telephones than all of Africa.

--Fidel Castro, closing plenary of the NGO Forum, World Conference against Racism, Durban South Africa

Rrrrringgg!

Hello, new York?
This is Jenin.

Hello, New York?
This is Baghdad.

Hello, New York?
This is Acteal.

Hello, New York?
This is Beirut.

Hello, New York?
This is Hiroshima.

Hello, New York?
This is Nagasaki.

Hello, New York?
This is Stalingrad.

Hello, New York?
This is Tenochtitlán.

Hello, New York?
We're calling long-distance,

You'll learn to rise from your own horror.

We're your sisters
We've been bombed,
Razed by empires,
Nazis,
occupation,
conquistadores.

You will be reborn
Only if your peoples are free
Only if you accept
The glass beads
That you used to steal us from our original paths

Hello, New York?
This is Toppenish, Matamoros, Tijuana, Oakland
you can receive all our calls
We look to you not as ground zero
But as the land which cannot be bought or sold
Trinkets and capital
Will change hands
But they will not change your destiny.

¡Hello, New York!

[From "Notes from South Africa: The Journey of September 11, 2001," while driving in the upheaval of NYC, September 11, 2001 and cross country.]