In Juan’s Land
(Poem)
in juan’s land
being a nationalist is a mortal sin
you might be abandoned in a shrubby lot
or in some pungent dumpsites
feasting on your butchered corpse
with exposed brain and entrails
troops of murmuring flies
and crawling hungry ants.
you might be lost forevermore
when cemented in a drum
left to rot and decompose
in the ocean’s grave-like mouth.
always remember, in juan’s land
never tell the truth.
just believe the economy’s good
though porridge and salt
often fill-up the belly
of so many unfortunates.
though daily multiplying
the scavengers of trash bins
to eat anything and survive the day
though many parade in tattered clothes
and seem lost in poverty’s jungle
or the grassy parks their waiting bed
or sacrifing to be enslaved
in some cruel foreign lands
just always think life is sweet
in every rising of the sun
in juan’s land.
make it a habit to raise your hands
praise to high heaven the demigods
as they always say
glorious is life
in the land of juan.
in juan’s land
never reveal to the masses
the mystery and hocus pocus
of the plunderers of public fund.
never let out from your throat
injustices and greediness
of the bastardly ruling class.
your tongue might be slashed
teeth sawed-off
eyes gouged-out
lips screwed and bashed.
in juan’s land
never, never emphatize
with the liberating aspiration
of the toiling workers and peasants.
never unite with the exploited class
being continuously enslaved
by the rotten, loony system
never be one
with their reverberating protests
against society’s pests
you’ll be branded
a subversive and terrorist
a grave threat to the security
of the jelly-like republic.
in juan’s land
brutal are the state’s centurions
so don’t be hardheaded
when picked-up and arrested
and fortunate enough
to be incarcerated
nameless desaparecido you’re not
you’ll be tortured by the fascists
and the forces of evil
forcing you to admit you’re a rebel
against the sanctity of the state.
your face will be shoved into
the toilet bowl full of vowels.
you’ll be made to lie down nude
on a block of thick ice.
you’ll be forced to drink more and more
yellowish liquid germs-full
till your belly bulges and rebels.
then the devil will stomp on it
till you admit the fabricated charges.
electrocuted sometimes are your balls
or inserted in the penis hole
a newly-lighted matchstick
or tied tightly on its soft head
the string of an old broken guitar.
oh, god of abraham
lascivious are the state’s centurions.
if you’re a lady inside
a stinking detention cell
they’ll fondle your vagina and breast.
they will rape you repeatedly
after the bastard gasped for breath
and done with his uncontrollable lust
he would even insert
and leave inside your genital
any empty bottle he so desired.
it’s really common in juan’s land
to torture and repress
the lovers of justice and righteousness
and deny them the democratic processes.
only the men of the exploiters
scheming lords and greedy rulers
even the clowns and magicians
in the palace of mammonism
yes, they are all blessed
while bleeding dry the people’s blood
and masticating their flesh and limbs
by always masquerading as nationalists
on the stage of brazen lies
continuously hoodwinking the people
through empty promises
of an illusionary good life
and sweet-scented future for all
in juan’s barren land.
yes, very usual in the land of juan
those traitors to the national welfare
and interests of the common man
those thieves in towns and cities
are the ones feasting on the table
of detestable power and privileges
and arrogantly proclaiming still
they ardently love this wretched land.
in juan’s land
that’s the order of things
love of country is a mortal sin
much more to speak the truth.
but it will not prevail forevermore
in the land of juan.
glaring is the blazing fire in the east
and rising from the darkness
of the past and gloomy night
the long-oppressed slaves
to finally liberate themselves!
(my English version of SA BAYAN NI JUAN)
