Raúl Carballeira

Raúl Carballeira (February 28, 1918 — June 26, 1948)

Bursts of shrapnel

mowed down your young body.

But you still had a gasp of breath,

a gasp of breath and a bullet;

and your mind, like a rapid steed,

galloping in the air,

on a hot June afternoon,

exploded under your own impact.

I cry out and I cry out with vehemence;

I cry out with vehemence, oh brother;

for never did they succeed

in enchaining The Idea

nor gagging The Word.

The word that expresses

the soul of the ideas.

We are a hammer of steel.

We shall continue hammering.

Each word, a blow;

each blow, a spark;

each phrase, a flame;

and in fires of words,

torches of The Idea

illuminating the darkness,

we shall proceed on the path

with the dawns of truth.

Federico Arcos

(Picture: Faces, Mikalojus Ciurlionis)