I.
to those gathered/present/I ask
are you still here?/and do you
read & savor them/recite & chant them
his song/to the song/sung by his father
hear the echo to guide me/find
speaking the truest truth

II.
back in the days when no one refused to sing
when politics was an argument among friends
you might expect a pinch of pluck/of backbone
may you be counted among the fortunate/though the state
might hope for clear/specific steps/whip
thumb & index/this is now your prayer
the necessary art of ignoring it as it curdles
we can no longer speak

III.
the seed must be strong enough
of lack & want/will it return twofold/threefold
do not think
each disappeared
I sent my roots up into the atmosphere
to/cleanse/
you back from death/weep you present

This poem and its title is a Cento of lines from each poem in Jeremy Paden’s Prison Recipes, (http://broadstonebooks.com/Jeremy_Paden_Page.html) a powerful book dedicated to the victims of Argentina’s state-sponsored violence, often called the Dirty War. This new poem composed of those lines holds my own country in its heart.