On March 21st, Ángel was beaten, attacked with tear gas and arrested, as Castro's secret police broke into the home of his aunt, Jaquelin Garcia, a member of The Ladies in White pro-democracy movement.
The Children That Nobody Wanted.
That is also the name of Cuban poet/author (and current political prisoner) Ángel Santiesteban-Prats' blog.
Two Ángels, Two Poets (one urban, one traditional), Two Children That Nobody Wanted.
Coincidence?
Only their first name.
For sadly it is the sentiment of those who courageously speak out -- whether through art or advocacy -- for freedom in Cuba and are brutally punished by an intolerant Castro regime -- in the face of an oblivious world.
Let's make sure they are not forgotten.
If we don't, who will?
This week, Ángel (the traditional poet) was able to smuggle out the following verse from prison:
From Monday the 8th at 7pm.
Without water, nor clothes, nor toiletries, without light, on a concrete bed.
God Inc.
Imitating my patriotic readings
they suppressed my horizon.
I took hold of your name,
of memory the last station.
Every letter engraved
on the silent walls of my cell,
swiftly came the hummingbirds
to applaud the end of my concert.
The spit lost its reach,
roaches played on my face,
my mother gave me a one way ticket
although she knew that love wasn’t surrendering.
The train departed with one aboard,
smudging the image on the window,
for an instance two dried up cats
were following the shadow of a dream.
Prison. 1580 San Miguel del Padrón
In solitary confinement and starvation.
epitaph
Here lies Angel Santiesteban Prats, controversial, patriot, slandered and friend.
He lived and died as he imagined the best novels.
(Translated by Ernesto Suarez)
