AMAZON, I HAVE SEEN YOU
- 27 sept. 2019
- Par José MUCHNIK
- Blog : Le blog de José MUCHNIK
Trees, birds, people... are burning. Bolsonaro aggravates the ecocide of the Amazon, a phenomenon started a long time ago, with the submission of nature and living conditions to the interests of financial groups. Amazon, smoke signals, universal language to decrypt, we can also read forests ransacked in Indonesia by agribusiness lobbies, Alaskan natural reserves delivered by Mr. Trump to oil companies, stifled seas, rivers poisoned ... Certainly, the faster the Brazilian people get rid of Bolsonaro the better, but let us be clear: there is the basis of the production and consumption model of financial capitalism, its voracity, which is challenged by the flames of the Amazon. We must build together another way for living in society, other relationships between men and with nature. We must understand that we are the guests of the planet, not her master.
I was in Amazonia, I lived there, I have seen. In 1994, following the Rio de Janeiro summit of 1992, several scientific missions were set up, I was part of it. But faced with the dimension of the disaster and the helplessness that we felt as researchers, I could only utter a cry, a cry that I tried to capture in a poem. I have the feeling that the poetic word can help us, I do not yet know how.
AMAZON, I HAVE SEEN YOU
José Muchnik
Translated from Spanish (Argentine) by Gerry Loose
I have seen
the forest throbbing / like a blood drum / the forest opening / like an unexpected love / the forest weeping / like a blinded river
a river with burst banks / like maddened horses / running scared /
toward other realms
I have seen
brows moist / with ancient sweat / nights lighting / green melodies /
and the depth of dreams / in the ripped fields
I have seen children playing / the way children play
I have seen children smiling / the way children smile
I have seen children working / the way children work /
playing like the bigger ones / their lives in their hands
I have seen trees
trees felled / like ancient grandfathers
trees fleshed alive / like lonely kings
trees begging / for other skies to come
I have seen the earth
the earth in ashes / wrecked as far as the horizon
mother earth / our sweetheart / creator of song / and the bones
of voices / and of fish
a shamed earth / with no face for flowers
I have seen parrots crying / the absence of their loves
I have seen tourists buying / exotic feathers
I have seen cows
one cow / two cows / three cows
...
highways of cattle / nose to tail towards market
my kingdom / for a cow
one cow / for seven forests
one forest / half a hamburger
(a few dribbles of ketchup / as tribute to the tomato
a few grams of mustard / in the innards of bread)
I have seen
a wise grandfather / whispering lullabies
to age-old plants / for their peaceful sleep
I have seen peasants
their hard hands / their soft words / and their unsullied hopes
I have seen poor people’s tables
the rice silent / honouring the moment
the farinha sharing / her modest joy
families reunited / in protective warmth
I have seen hope
a branch budding / remembering the embers
a loving monkey / a flower in its mouth
an old timer, very old / deciphering clouds
and a shining child / scattering smoke
I have seen
graceful açaís / dancing with the moon
unruly babaçús / preparing to fight
parrots proclaiming / a dream republic
and a chestnut tree proud / as a king with no borders
reciting poems / for the return of birds
I have seen faces
all the bumps / all the trails / all the tracks
in unfolded faces / like fleeting signs
gentle faces
like the speech of palm trees
tender faces / like Xingú’s breast
solemn faces / searching in the haze /
for the light of an apple / before the serpent
all the roots / all the rivers / all the veins
bursting in faces / like lines of destiny
constellations of faces / looking for sense
looking for traces / in the contours of sadness
constellations of gazes / beneath the Southern Cross
forever
since before / the fire was subdued
since before / the axe was freed
since before / the Word was praised
The Southern Cross / root of light
and beginning of a silence / we have yet to hear
I have seen lights
dappled lights / tattooing messages / on the back of the river
lights burning the sky / so the night can / keep its promises
failing lights / in different guises
but the same suicide / the same sinking sun /
the same circular rite of death
I have seen
light resting on lips / after the first kiss
light which climbs onto the roof / to ask the moon a favour
lights caressing tree trunks / to discover the age of their wounds
I have seen waters
waters in all forms / waters as rivers
carrying ancient freight / in hopeful fleets / to the sun
waters as rain / falling / punishing / purifying /
cleansing violations / bearing forgotten stories
rains / revealing to the ground / the secrets soaking / in the rage of stars
signs of the fall / toward the ignored springs / at the heart of the future?
or just waters?
waters recounting / plant legends / that nobody knows how to hear
waters as marshlands / like mirrors of mud / reflecting mute skies
waters as coal / making the shapes / of the last farewell
I have seen waters
as rivers / as rainfalls / as mirrors
as the cold cloaks / which no longer warm / the elegance of fish
Lost waters
groping / questioning / remembering
Waters dreaming / of a moment of clarity / in the thought of a lake /
of the future of seeds / in a furrow of new corn /
or the charms of wind / from the beginnings of love
I have seen hands
hands which know / how to build the world
how to be song / how to be mother
how to be chisel / how to be mud
hands of light / shining on jars
hands of honey / pulling out thorns
hands clasping hands / shaping the juices
in the heart of the cane
I have seen hands
hands of all races / hands of all truths
of Juan Sintierra / of Maria Pródiga / of Pablo Firmamento
hands crossing Brazil / looking for a plot / of earth to love
a pocket of earth / to grow a tree / to raise a roof
to nurture the words / which one day will bring us to our senses
I have seen a point
a point on earth / to consider my own stature
a point on a hill / to be a leaf in the stream
a point at the foot of a tree / to understand if my arms /
are branches or dreams
I have seen a point
a point in time / for a hollow of calm
a point in childhood / to protect tenderness
a point in youth / for an explosion of flowers
a point at my age / like a thick skinned grape
that point to summarize / the wise plants' sap
a point
...
to weep for everyone
for the earth in ashes / for the innocent cows
for the broken trees / for the mourning birds
I have seen
...
Amazon
...
I have seen
Glossary
Farinha: Manioc flour; a Brazilian staple
Açaï: An Amazonian palm tree with purple-red fruits giving a much prized drink: Açaï wine
Babaçu: An Amazonian palm tree known for its large leaves, used in house building.
Xingu: A tributary of the Amazon River
(First edition (spanish-frech) 1997, Ed. Louma, Montpellier-France http://ibuk.com.ar/f_muchnik_amazonia.html)
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