Asking - Deolinda Rodrigues

Cold-blooded murderer,

commie spy,

woman playing at politics,

whore.

They’re calling me all these things

and here I am asking when this nightmare will end,

asking

each time their feet go by,

the military jeep growls,

the bugle sounds reveille.

There’s a new guard at my door.

Is it my turn for the firing squad,

or my comrade in the next cell?

Will the captain take us

now, or never?

Here I am asking,

always asking.

There’s no tunnel in this hellish place, but . . .

Vietnam is putting an end to Yankee cruelty.

Colombia is back on the path to dignity.

Another one explodes in Pretoria. 

But most of all

Ripanzu

(with Cienfuegos and Kamy)

is getting closer—

to putting right the ruined;

to sweeping away the colonialist;

to building a logic.

Did Brazza transmit Kamy’s march?

Asking,

asking,

just to keep up

the constant struggle

between lurking suicide

and this insane whirlwind

till morning comes

and I leave this death camp alive

and useful in my freedom

to choose responsibility

and freedom of action

for the realization

of our liberty. 

---

Deolinda Rodrigues [Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida, aka Langidila ("Mother of the Revolution")] (1939 - 1967) Angola

Translated by Chris Daniels

Source: Archival: Revolutionary Poetry from Lusophone Africa Selected & Translated by Chris Daniels, Tripwire, no. 17, 2021