Apolitical Intellectuals|Otto Rene Castillo

One day

the apolitical

intellectuals

of my country

will be interrogated

by the simplest

of our people

They will be asked

what they did

when their nation died out

slowly

like a sweet fire

small and alone

No one will ask them

about their dress

their long siestas

after lunch

no one will want to know

about their sterile combats

with the idea

of the nothing

no one will care about

their higher financial learning

They won't be questioned

on Greek mythology

or regarding their self-disgust

when someone within them

begins to die

the coward's death

They'll be asked nothing

about their absurd

justifications

born in the shadow

of the total life

On that day

the simple men will come

Those who had no place

in the books and poems

of the apolitical intellectuals

but daily delivered

their bread and milk

their tortillas and eggs

those who drove their cars

who cared for their dogs and gardens

and worked for them

and they'll ask

What did you do when the poor

suffered, when tenderness

and life

burned out of them

Apolitical intellectuals

of my sweet country

you will not be able to answer

A vulture of silence

will eat your gut

Your own misery

will pick at your soul

And you will be mute in your shame