A Poem by Caleb Powell: Ché no fue tan grande

Goddammit what is so cool about Che?
okay, he traveled all
over Patagonia on a motorcycle
and studied medicine
and went to a leper colony
and to Congo, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia
the guy cared about the poor.

But what happened?

he oversaw executions very efficient executions
and praised violence… his own words

and I only think of that aphorism about how you can fight for peace.

Now people worship him these days…

but not Abimael Guzmán of the Sendero Luminoso
though he and Che and Mao and Pol Pot and Lenin and Kim Il Sung
thought it was okay to kill

for the cause

they all once cared about the poor they all did

and as for me

I do not cry over Hiroshima and Timothy McVeigh
and no one puts my face on a T-shirt.

Copyright 2009, Caleb Powell. © This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.

Caleb Powell (http://calebpowell.wordpress.com) was born in Taiwan. After graduating from the University of Washington he returned to study Mandarin and teach English. He has also lived and worked in South Korea, Guam, Thailand, The United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Brazil, and Argentina. A Canadian small press, Good Cheer, published his guidebook, The World is a Class. His writing is published or forthcoming in decomP, descant, Drunken Boat, elimae, Errant Parent, flashquake, Monkeybicycle, The Pedestal Magazine, Word Riot, Yankee Pot Roast and others.