CHANGING THE WORLD WITH WORDS

FERNANDITO

New York, 1898

Three years ago,

the sad news arrived

about José Martí’s death

on a jungle battlefield in Cuba,

fighting for independence

from Spain.

So now, when I learn that the island’s war

has ended with a horrifying betrayal

by the US—seizure not only of Cuba,

but of Puerto Rico, too—I remember

everything the brave poet taught me

about liberty, and I start to write

poetry of my own,

verses that protest

my adopted country’s

policy of expansion—always

grabbing land, and more land—as if all the many

nations of North, Central, and South America

as well as the Caribbean islands

are meant to be possessions

of the US, instead of independent

countries.

In the shadow

of the Statue of Liberty,

I write about freedom

for everyone,

not just

us.