
Reflections (Reflexiones)
- Music piece by:Sergio Vesely
- Testimony by:Sergio Vesely
- Experience in:
Prison forced me to think quite a lot about my political past and my total commitment to an ideological cause, and its consequences.
In this song (composed in the Puchuncaví Detention Camp and only sung for my friends and cellmates) I reflect on my role as a prisoner songwriter.
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Published on: 22 June 2015
what pains me most
is to gaze on a sad brother
without love and peace.
And my fleeting mind
like the flight of a sparrow
cries because it no longer flies
and has no consolation.
Who could give strength
to my voice that has no solution?
Who can make a statement
a vision for what is better?
The damaged tree suffers
and I suffer from my pain
the human tires not
he has a dry heart.
The bird is in a cage
the fish is in a net
an onlooker gazes out
but his eyes no longer see.
I think the human being
becomes used to the wall
forgot the dreams dreamed
forgot loving to love.
Where are thoughts born
where does reason die
that’s where dreams will unite
like glass tops.
To the lion by his growl
to the flower by its colour
the poet moulding his song
verse by verse.
Today the man sings to the woman
the servant sings to his master
Who understands what I say
and makes a fair distinction?
It is not the same a lover
as an engulfed labourer
although the song is the same
one is alive, the other not.
The time that comes and passes not
a dead shadow in a corner.
A singer alone with his song
a wheel falling off.
Nobody will tie your hands
nobody will breathe a proclamation
nobody violates your silence
no one refines their voice.
Related testimonies:
- Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto) Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on
11 September 1973 ), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp. - Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría) Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976
In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.
- Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week.
- Song of a Middle-Class Man (Canción de un hombre medio) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
In our political discussions, we always spoke disdainfully of the middle class. In the view of the Marxist ideologues in prison, that sector of society supported the dictatorship and it was necessary to reverse that trend.
- How Can I Describe This to You? (Cómo hacer para darte una idea) Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
This is one of two songs I wrote in prison for my beloved Graciela. In the song I tried to draw her closer to me, describing my everyday world and my experience of life as a captive.
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