Long Live, Chera

You made the flame fluttering on
The fag end of breath live
By pouring your blood

You built the song
The path of the people
By melting the vital airs
From the navel to the larynx
From the strain to the stillness

You took for you song the sword, which cut the ulcer
You flaunted the song like a sword in the battle

You are the warrior who hurled at death
All the weapons without exception
Even when defeat became decisive

You are the current, which rampaged into history
When the shores of birth and death came closer

Lacerated all over,
Death is still lamenting your scornfulness
While licking the wounds you inflicted

The decadent set up
Is eating the dust
Finding you grow many times over
In our consciousness

***

July 1983

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