Che

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