Poetry to the Rescue of America's Soul
César Chelala
As President Donald Trump’s (is this true or is it only a passingvnightmare?) wrecking machine continues its steady work of destroying
everything that is dear to Americans, two poets, Roque Dalton (1935-1975), a Salvadoran poet and Langston Hughes (1902-1967), a poet of the dispossessed, seem to have presaged Trump presidency’s characteristics and effects.
In his poem “Variations on a Phrase by Christ” Roque Dalton says,
“Give unto God that which is God’s
and to the government of the rich
that which belongs to the government of the rich.