from The Promised Land, section 35

Velez 39 Clemente Soto Ve'lez from The Promised Land, section 35 The promised land becomes one with the hands of the shunned peon through the palate of opulence With the hands of the peon that tell of social misery that mark its prophetic face in red With the hands of the peon that trade in the joy which raises the elbow of daybreak to give melodic cast to the sensibility of its exceUence With the hands of the peon that manage haciendas of knives to mold its aurora With the hands of the peon that thunder in the cartilage of the future With the hands of the peon that push away the goldsmiths of plunder so that the savored taste of knowledge 40 the minnesota review is not stolen With the hands of the peon that depend on the day of its arms to rise on the morning of its legs over its brimming blood With the hands of the peon that depend on the day of its arms to rise on the morning of its legs over its brimming blood With the hands of the peon that are rainshowers of uncommon poetry with a breeze of madness perfect like the violent confusion of spirit that opens its doors wide to the most insubordinate sunrises With the hands of the peon that snatch the future away from what it would become the future that storms persecuting its compass With the hands of the peon that Velez 41 reject the inhalation of dusky latitudes With the hands of the peon that plant sensations of sun to become the nightingale that does not sleep singing to its existence With the hands of the peon that tutor the universe so that it may learn to sing like the peon of the subversive verb With the hands of the peon that dignify its mistreated body with sprouts of gunfire or unsaddled thunderclaps With the hands of the peon that swallow the biased haze of callous possession that howl the sniffing of a badly wounded beast With the hands of the peon that still receive their doctorates at the university of the reaping-hook or the hammer 42 the minnesota review With the hands of the peon that advocate naturalization for enamored udders for the song of the unknown With the hands of the peon that unionize gerunds of flurrying verbs With the hands of the peon that do not cage youthful agitation even when so ordered or else to be murdered in a spray of bullets With the hands of the peon that tame the two-headed clouds With the hands of the thinking peon that are the backbones of the word peon of the word let the word become your servant Translation: Martín Espada and Camilio Pe'rez-Bustillo ...