Había paz / We Had Peace 70

(Poesía / Poetry)

Elisabetta LaCava

Inspired by the work of Gregorio Mijares AKA Niño Bonito Native of the village of Patanemo, Venezuela

We no longer have a home there, those of us who came from the bay. A home is meant to be safe, to protect from harm, so we decided to construct one here, within dry walls.

When we had peace, we all danced to the same drums, ran in the same wet sand, and swam in the blue of the bay together, but you can still find us easily because

when we left, we carried with us a part of you, of your great uniting masterpiece. You made us a painted peace of man and of land, and we hung it in our

plain homes in cold countries — a museum of struggling households connected

through the brilliant blues and piercing reds on our walls,

an international gallery of hope. When Patanemo—Paz Tenemos was no longer ours, when the bay and the river were lost to us, when we could no longer climb the

mountains where you lived in a mud hut, raised your family and colored a perfect world, we would all hear the drums and feel the ocean as captives on distant shores.