Unsung Heroes133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqABzzwEUU
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1EBtHdnVn
Although I stand on the shoulders of giants,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OIRJDLfpQ
I fail to see much farther than the bridge of my nose.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DPmi2jWfn
The fault in mine. The shame is mine.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZkKxvVdbz
For I am unworthy of you, my beloved dead.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CnFnfZfRd
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMmJs8EVUF
Emilio (Maternal Grandfather)133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotmvrRfcVX
Your crime was literacy,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1Q6r7T7se
And the possession of a social conscience,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvqxMHmJvx
That made you yearn to see your beloved Spain remain free,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpCSVGNt2t
And prevented you from suffering fascists lightly.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj9ynoN2hp
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULUyXgFTlV
You did not bear arms,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yy9wy8Mlq
For you abhorred all violence,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcsXcKZOij
You did not incite rebellion, though you133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHsQQcWjqT
Rebelled against the foreign and domestic enemies of freedom.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeITdMw2A1G
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztP1NtgR7t
As best I can tell you were an idealist who,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhidiibgang
In a time of darkness,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFm8VjNAzl
Clung passionately to the belief,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcHd3C8H6X
In the perfectibility of the human spirit.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9E8AIDNba
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrvt9YZOVn
You would not abide the lies the regional papers carried,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvovMDdCyf
And translated news from American and British newspapers,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ELhcHTl0A
About the gathering storm,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBftvUw09mh
Sharing the truth freely with all who would listen.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiJNFzBx9r
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1RLAzigqa
You gave speeches, and wrote speeches delivered by others, in support of a doomed133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV1TfTpwkv
Republic collapsing under the weight of its own incompetence and corruption.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMNqZMDkXK
You were warned by friends of your imminent arrest and offered passage back to the U.S. or to133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpBSOIXHnC
Buenos Aires where so many of your friends had already found refuge.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjr056UMZ6
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbOfzanGRW
But they would not get your wife and nine children out,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLstLyscR6
And you refused to leave them to their fate.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdybRfxqVXY
They came for you, as always, in the middle of the night,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTA0jcxcDhe
These cowards with stern faces hiding behind machine guns.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNv6cGSJn6C
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUThuXPjhz
They took you prisoner, not for the first time, to the Castillo de San Anton,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtnhxbOq7e
A fortress by a most beautiful, tranquil bay,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNu3HiWR0h
Where they tore out your nails, one by one, and those their133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbsSm96jdP
Gentlest caresses while they asked you for names.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsXUqOWBAP
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP1UVRFU4t
You endured, God knows what there, for months,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsirdCYvNt
And were sentenced to be shot as a traitor at La Plaza de María Pita.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0CNFTwfmh
But the Republic had friends, even among the officers of the fascist forces,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQoJfxD5Iq
And one of them opened your cell door on the eve of your execution.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Lry0r4mm3
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDAzEX6u62
You had contracted tuberculosis by then, yet, according to grandmother, you133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmdZhp6iPH
Managed to swim miles across the bay in a moonless night, to safety in the home of133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0gkzMxcWR
Another patriot who risked his life and the lives of his family to hide you in133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqjLA7OAmS
His root cellar and made a trip of many miles on foot to find your wife.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPAfOMHgpX
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3DifRPcS2
He found your home and told your wife of your unexpected reprieve,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59WfnqOYno
And asked her to send some clothing and some shoes to replace your dirty rags.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs8DowE2Yf
You eldest daughter, Maria, insisted on accompanying the stranger back on foot, taking133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2Q9m69y9k
Clothing and what provisions she could quickly gather and carry to you.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNLlAwYgjN
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaR6dOJfSGx
From time to time you accepted the hospitality of an overnight stay In the attic or hay loft of a133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1UXB4MLqS
Republican sympathizer as these were not hard to133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhgtgrtbeR
Find in the fiercely independent Galicia under the yoke of one of its own.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFe5rWnMsG
But mostly you lived in the woods, with active guerrillas for years.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeO74TadOD
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcUDM71NhL
You lived with all the comforts of a hunted animal with others who would not yield,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHQW2iDm9Z
Your only crime consisted of being on the wrong side of a lost cause.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJR24smLEc
I hope it brought you some comfort to know you were on the right side of history.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEUWGAL1fn
It brought none to your wife and none to your youngest children.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoh9hN1Nbl
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrD3cdK4Ahl
As you paid the long penance for your conscience, once a month or so, after some133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjbeNgBRsy
Time passed, you visited your wife and children. You were introduced to the little ones133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluDQWa07H5
As an uncle from afar. They did not know the bearded wild man who paid these visits133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVpKaoyV4k
In the middle of the night and left wearing dad’s old, clean clothes.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmdttPm3pX
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwG8oArkp4b
The older ones, Maria, Josefa, Juan and Toñita, all in their teens, told the little ones133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwmTaXy3kg
That their “uncle” brought news of their dad. The younger children, still wearing the133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8id2YFowzq
Frayed cloaks of their innocence, accepted this, not questioning why he stayed in133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuCWrBG8UP
Mom’s room all night and was gone before they awoke the next morning.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ726sLQcRw8
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5ChcRLc45
Your grief at playing the part of a stranger in your own home, of not embracing your133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiyq4707zo
Children on whom you doted, one and all, for their protection and yours, as there were133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBE6bz7EqEz
No shortage of fascists who tried to ply them with pastries and candy,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvX23Flos5j
Seeking to use their innocence as a weapon against you.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTxDlhS3sd
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQD66QzkZYc
Your parents were relatively wealthy business owners who farmed the sea but133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTUfjPoWgP
Disowned you—perhaps for your politics, perhaps for choosing to emigrate and133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvyj6yfAzc
Refusing to join the family business, or perhaps for marrying for love in New York City133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15JHduP0kv
A hard working girl beneath your social station in their eyes.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYYbFIRPX0
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FVOpvSh4z
You lived just long enough to see Spain delivered from war,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcrge14UuL
Though not freed of her chains.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jWFNuegLb
You were spared the war’s aftermath.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyztkGxogme
Your wife and children were not.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodS52OcHaY
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrrWyzY3GF
No books record your name. Most of those who knew you are dead.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttahcDRXEN
Yet flowers have long perpetually appeared on your simple above-ground burial site in133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLam03Qmep
Sada that holds your ashes, and those of your eldest son, Juan, and second-133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoXJTs7XF4
Eldest daughter, Toñita, who died much younger than even you.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKGAA8xdT8
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfm2mj1YlG0
Your wife has joined you there, in a place where133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwKMi52Ujd
Honor, goodness, decency, principle and a pure,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFgGjBnqFV
Broken heart,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDk0HRJGhz
Now rest in peace.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqZPxOpbvI
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUKvig8wS3
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=_OdzkNRoSaqlhYI3xxfpQg133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PpBStgoPp

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