Future (Futuro)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

The dream of the political prisoner was to regain freedom. All of us would feel joy when one of us was about to be released from prison, although it far from easy to see a comrade depart. Even less so for those who suspected they would never enjoy that privilege.

It is hard to express what we felt upon reading the official notice informing us of the good news. From that moment on, our only thoughts were about our future beyond the prison walls: the imprisonment chapter of our lives was drawing to a close. We were about to be born again.

It was my turn to experience that heady phase of "mapping out a future while still a prisoner" between September and November 1976. The first time was in the former Valparaiso Jail, and then it was in Santiago, in the Capuchins' Jail.

At the time, I understood that my road to freedom would be a bit longer than that of the comrades who simply walked out the prison gates. My prison sentence had been commuted to deportation from Chile. Exile. In other words, I would have to board a plane and fly several hours before landing in freedom.

My mind became filled with doubts and unanswerable questions. One day I borrowed a guitar - that loyal friend who was always there for me during imprisonment - and set my thoughts to music. Only my cellmates heard me sing these hopeful verses.


Tags:

Published on: 23 September 2015

I propose to say future
and to walk my entire life through it.
I propose to gather eyes
that can’t stand a world without it
without a set of ideas
without objectives or dreams.
A man, a child, a woman
an elderly being, one about to be born
all will go along the tracks
of time that always passes
and refuses to be bound to the past.

I propose to sing future
if someone amputates its wings.
I propose gigantic furies
upon challenging its tormentor,
the hope, and light,
the paid killer of history
Hand in hand, skin on skin,
let the people come out, let it come out to see
let the hired hand break his chains.
Let he who longs to take the reins
of his life in the future
raise his voice.

I propose to write future
and create a poem about it.
I propose new music
in perfect harmony with it,
with the ever-changing subject
of love and its outcomes.
And in the era of pain
in the chambers of bitterness,
I propose a sun in the night
I propose a leap into the new
there is a beginning beyond the walls.


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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