Che Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

In my hometown
At a busy intersection
They have placed
A bust of yours, Che

Kids ask who this is
Their parents know not who he is
They mumble nonsense
The kids look perplexed

Then there are the young ones
Who speed on bikes
High on Indian hash
Overrun unfortunate puppies
And kitten on the road
During evening rush hour
Which they think
Is a revolution of sort

They have your image
On their T-Shirts
They know not who you are
But just Che – a nobody
From wilderness
Who stirred emotions
Somewhere in Bolivia
And in Latin America
Where kitchens didn’t burn
But only stomachs

On this rainy day
When skeletal remains
Of starving humanity
Wail across the globe
Like overrun kitten and puppies
Che, lemme prostrate
Before your bust
And call you, dear friend of Neruda

Please keep coming back
To blast the bastions
Of the Batistas
We need your fire
Intelligence and power
To deliver us from the yoke
However unending the task

They might sever your hands
Parcel them to lands
To terrorize those
Who straighten their spines
But do please keep coming back
Che, so that our kids know
Who Guevara was
And don his mantle

Che, please keep igniting the fire
Of an oppressed fraternity
This lonely cold rainy night
Of looming darkness and pain
So men rise again
To confront guns and pain
With unbending steel-like spine