Soldiers of “Fortune”
Never believe magazine
commanders pandering a fat
cheque or stripe
a star or headline
2 glorious weeks in the
mountains of Central America
her womb her fury
will never appear in your
obituary fulfillment
nor serve as compensation
for P.T.S.D. Only real touch
real love would assuage
that agent of orange
A real sex a real mouth
can echo your patriotic needs
learn the discipline of
dying
and love again
Translated from the Spanish by Charles Tarzian.
Roberto Vargas is the Cultural Attache for the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington.
Originally published in
Cindy Sherman, Dario Fo, Bruce Weber, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, and Raymond Voinquel.
Work that is just about the technical or conceptual, personal or political, is fine; it meets the world with what’s in fashion. But there’s something else bordering on magic, that brings an artwork home, makes it land and resonate. You can’t really teach that so much as conjure it.
Kara Walker
