By now, many of us have heard that the body that carried our People’s Poet, Pablo Neruda, was exhumed on April 8, 2013 from his home grave at Isla Negra.
This is an occurrence that has left me with a feeling I can best describe as melancholy; triste. In it, I find hints of the “archeological” atrocities committed against our ancestors whose remains and belongings have been unearthed and are displayed all over the world, for other people’s financial gains; hints of political insurgency directly supported by the power of the nation in which I was born and live and thrive in; hints of poetic irony, taking place, out of all months of the year, during National Poetry Month.
And no matter how much I wrack my brain for something good to come out of this, I just can’t find it. No “final determination” will bring about any kind of closure or healing, for this act in itself speaks loud and clear about the unchanging dynamics between those who control and those who love.
Regardless, it’s an event which I felt I must cover, here at Condor, but have been unsure as to how to go about it. The coverage I’ve seen about this event has been shallow and sensationalistic, at best.
I’ve settled on offering you the following, so that if you desire, you can pay your respects to this wonderful spirit whose soul, through his poetry, has invaded every continent on this planet with love and resistance. Please consider this our personal wake, an open house for you to spend a few minutes of your day or evening, in mourning or celebration, paying respect.
In addition, we’re pleased to share with you an excerpt of a treasured recording we have of Pablo Neruda reading his early poetry. If you like, you can listen while you watch the video of the exhumation.
Listen to the recording and mute the video.
