Poet of Destiny (Poeta del destino)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Anexo Cárcel Capuchinos, 1976

This song is a tribute to Miguel Enríquez, Secretary-General of the MIR(Revolutionary Left Movement) Left-wing political organisation founded in 1965 at the Univ. of Concepción., who was gunned down by a commando of the dictatorship’s secret police on 5 October 1974.

My own five-year militancy in that organisation resulted in my enormous respect for this individual.

The original text was created in the Capuchinos Prison (my last stop in Chile before leaving for exile in Germany), and underwent substantial changes in the early 1980s (which in my view enriched the composition) when I had the chance to read the moving speech given by Edgardo Enríquez, father of the political leader, at the opening ceremony of the Miguel Enríquez Clinical Hospital in Havana, Cuba.


Tags:

Published on: 22 June 2015

Comrade Miguel,
you lived thirty years of your life
through earth’s history
which 'made that boy a fighter'
as your father said in Havana
in a noble speech
bestowing your name upon a hospital.

Comrade Miguel
from medical student to precocious leader
poet of destiny, craftsman of tree and flower.
Your courage marked the passing of your time
the pulse of the moment. To advance.

And there will be people protecting your memory
Your generous death is present
the agile reasoning of your lips
drawing a pentagram to the future.

And there will be people defending your legacy
the key to a future of liberty
the end of a century-long workday
inescapable principle of peace.

Comrade Miguel
a militant in Concepcion in Chile
you roamed the land
your challenge against barbarity.
The humble man joined your quest
and in a time of war
he raised his hunger for freedom.

Comrade Miguel
resist with your death the fierce shrapnel
like your father in Cuba
Give your name to the fruit of love
rebel against your hasty silence
your curtailed syllable. To advance.

And there will be people protecting your memory
Your generous death is present
the agile reasoning of your lips
drawing a pentagram to the future.

And there will be a people defending your legacy
the key to a future of liberty
the end of a century-long workday
inescapable principle of peace.

Comrade Miguel...

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)  Amelia Negrón, Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 31 December 1975

    Preparations for that Wednesday night became more intense. It would be a different night. We women prisoners had secretly organised ourselves, but more importantly, we had also coordinated with the male prisoners.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Renato Alvarado Vidal, Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, 1975

    Once upon a time, there was a good little wolf. … No. That’s another story.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

Testimonies from the Cantos Cautivos platform can be cited and shared as long as they are attributed (including the author, our project’s name and URL), for non-commercial purposes and without modifications, as per the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authorisation is required for 1) any reuse different from citations and sharing via the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license of the platform data and its associated metadata, and 2) any use in events, concerts, plays, films, etc., of musical works written or recorded by project participants. To that end, we request that you send a proposal at least one month in advance to contact@cantoscautivos.org. For uses of musical works written or recorded by people outside the project, please contact copyright holders.