Pride and Love
They can destroy me, my
boy,
but not defeat me.
The surge of
pride in my veins is what keeps me alive.
They mocked
me when I returned from the sea
day after
day
without
fish.
Unlucky
fisherman.
Santiago the
doomed.
Santiago the
accursed.
Santiago the
beaten.
No, Manolin,
no,
I could
embrace bad luck
I could swallow
damnation.
But defeat?
No, Manolin,
no.
I am
Santiago, masterful fisherman.
I am
Santiago, more man than I am.
Old man who
wakes up early in order to have one longer day.
Beaten I
cannot be; destroyed yes if need be.
Mine is the
turtle’s heart, boy,
It beats for
hours after it has been cut up.
The marlin I
hooked had such a heart too.
We were
brothers, the marlin and I,
each one
with a heart whose beats
matched each
other’s.
The marlin
was my friend and foe at once,
my strength
and my weakness,
my pride and
my humility,
my master
and my victim.
I love you, Marlin,
That’s why I have to kill you.
Else you will kill me.
You have to.
We are in it together.
PS. Santiago is the protagonist of
Ernest Hemingway’s novel Old Man and the
Sea. Manolin is a boy who is devoted to him.
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ReplyDeleteHope remains eternal in human breast
ReplyDeleteHope is a dominant theme of the novel. It's a sin not to hope, as Santiago says. But I love the theme of 'destruction versus defeat.'
DeleteIt revived my memory of the book. Santiago, the salo, the worst form of unlucky. But he didn't care. Deep within him was the lion who still had the pride and the perseverance. Who cares about luck when one has got perseverance to live one more day.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Thus Santiago becomes the real hero, an inspiration.
DeleteNice to see you write more poetry. Always loved it when you wrote though rarely.
ReplyDelete