Unsung Heroes188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ876YtPW9XT
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrmaSOzzee
Although I stand on the shoulders of giants,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6NEqfMUuW
I fail to see much farther than the bridge of my nose.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1ILz4XD7o
The fault in mine. The shame is mine.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeR7iLCn2bs
For I am unworthy of you, my beloved dead.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNODT4fnli
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12dv8IibWX
Emilio (Maternal Grandfather)188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOienuEgXK
Your crime was literacy,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjl1Taw1qLx
And the possession of a social conscience,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt01AYCXObT
That made you yearn to see your beloved Spain remain free,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaDCfouLMF
And prevented you from suffering fascists lightly.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5ej8xPCNH
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tUWT94APO
You did not bear arms,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9jnnOdOXH
For you abhorred all violence,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7brvK2bXJp
You did not incite rebellion, though you188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65Mimd1NCo
Rebelled against the foreign and domestic enemies of freedom.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAShRxZvbz
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDcm5ENLsQ
As best I can tell you were an idealist who,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89EkfrzDTW
In a time of darkness,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaXweayEVc
Clung passionately to the belief,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBbxO0Rphh
In the perfectibility of the human spirit.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZU7pFdljb
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eLWr7mI2k
You would not abide the lies the regional papers carried,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ883L1nLkkS
And translated news from American and British newspapers,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4S25cVRnaZ
About the gathering storm,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGY6K3n3PE
Sharing the truth freely with all who would listen.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikqFWqFwYd
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZryXuI0uW
You gave speeches, and wrote speeches delivered by others, in support of a doomed188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjHmPkPjiB
Republic collapsing under the weight of its own incompetence and corruption.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EF7pLGxB6
You were warned by friends of your imminent arrest and offered passage back to the U.S. or to188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoydFcyAuWl
Buenos Aires where so many of your friends had already found refuge.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPldm4No5z
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMCMf9CuTy
But they would not get your wife and nine children out,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRfc5t99GF
And you refused to leave them to their fate.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqilC4j25i
They came for you, as always, in the middle of the night,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0ssUJfPo7
These cowards with stern faces hiding behind machine guns.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefCJBs1NLy
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYrfYAzDkz
They took you prisoner, not for the first time, to the Castillo de San Anton,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJEQWWCdjM
A fortress by a most beautiful, tranquil bay,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwNHO7A2C6
Where they tore out your nails, one by one, and those their188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofXE0oXbhu
Gentlest caresses while they asked you for names.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPq7dRPeytT
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTT49IJd3J
You endured, God knows what there, for months,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XtwNQQJLF
And were sentenced to be shot as a traitor at La Plaza de María Pita.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE4Eqkn8Sy
But the Republic had friends, even among the officers of the fascist forces,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MMDEVyczF
And one of them opened your cell door on the eve of your execution.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33OZObgahk
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7NL4jkn8Y
You had contracted tuberculosis by then, yet, according to grandmother, you188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusFngWtSCr
Managed to swim miles across the bay in a moonless night, to safety in the home of188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pmTWbFJQB
Another patriot who risked his life and the lives of his family to hide you in188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzSJp1ZEhI
His root cellar and made a trip of many miles on foot to find your wife.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmy7RpnvsHr
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhcIIAxKj4
He found your home and told your wife of your unexpected reprieve,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54s4IJqJIL
And asked her to send some clothing and some shoes to replace your dirty rags.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDBktH2g1d
You eldest daughter, Maria, insisted on accompanying the stranger back on foot, taking188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zbU8rWoFQ
Clothing and what provisions she could quickly gather and carry to you.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzGNASK8aA
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrfwHvHQop
From time to time you accepted the hospitality of an overnight stay In the attic or hay loft of a188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90BkpqxXcZ
Republican sympathizer as these were not hard to188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWihraKlKT
Find in the fiercely independent Galicia under the yoke of one of its own.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxrP7Feuxd
But mostly you lived in the woods, with active guerrillas for years.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3u40SuugK
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAPW8BS0ug
You lived with all the comforts of a hunted animal with others who would not yield,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZnNo921uR
Your only crime consisted of being on the wrong side of a lost cause.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVaXJeQefv
I hope it brought you some comfort to know you were on the right side of history.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEevPMYaoH
It brought none to your wife and none to your youngest children.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdaBFrMh3F
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7okZsLxNnB
As you paid the long penance for your conscience, once a month or so, after some188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6BwFgrr2l
Time passed, you visited your wife and children. You were introduced to the little ones188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8QjsgaDqH
As an uncle from afar. They did not know the bearded wild man who paid these visits188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxac8s1owH
In the middle of the night and left wearing dad’s old, clean clothes.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuX9h1zmudd
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzFXgapvAT
The older ones, Maria, Josefa, Juan and Toñita, all in their teens, told the little ones188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvesKkaa6cN
That their “uncle” brought news of their dad. The younger children, still wearing the188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakXK9p64co
Frayed cloaks of their innocence, accepted this, not questioning why he stayed in188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOXFT6Fa0s
Mom’s room all night and was gone before they awoke the next morning.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqN8lHw16XX
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxfOGsL7XB
Your grief at playing the part of a stranger in your own home, of not embracing your188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKJJuxi2RA
Children on whom you doted, one and all, for their protection and yours, as there were188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdv3BbsEhS
No shortage of fascists who tried to ply them with pastries and candy,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdleEcC29R
Seeking to use their innocence as a weapon against you.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurYjxcYcZ6
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA4PwA0OJY
Your parents were relatively wealthy business owners who farmed the sea but188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCERjftqrss
Disowned you—perhaps for your politics, perhaps for choosing to emigrate and188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6h4VOaG60
Refusing to join the family business, or perhaps for marrying for love in New York City188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoQvhAd3im
A hard working girl beneath your social station in their eyes.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDQnPvcl6M
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4qr5pAUHw
You lived just long enough to see Spain delivered from war,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHh0CqbsHsu
Though not freed of her chains.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYzzmlWOoT
You were spared the war’s aftermath.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvSEiReULD
Your wife and children were not.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXUBbQIGac
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXTP6yv4fT
No books record your name. Most of those who knew you are dead.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGw5XZpe2vu
Yet flowers have long perpetually appeared on your simple above-ground burial site in188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIb371CU2yT
Sada that holds your ashes, and those of your eldest son, Juan, and second-188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8XPkZ2XhK
Eldest daughter, Toñita, who died much younger than even you.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5nZbjRA8F
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURhMxbNCpx
Your wife has joined you there, in a place where188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34nEnASp1E
Honor, goodness, decency, principle and a pure,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YwnNBY4JV
Broken heart,188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLrYLFOEBW
Now rest in peace.188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMcj0wftP0
188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbSF2blYcQ
Author's Note: You can hear my reading of this poem free on Spotify at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1AOXDwsNKke4AzCnr8gl3c?si=_OdzkNRoSaqlhYI3xxfpQg188Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIleDtl6lm2

From: Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (Vol. 1)