Morning in San Caralampio
Schoolchildren gather around
From Guatemala their families have fled to this Mexican town
A woman from north of the border
Opens a box on the floor
Gives them all crayons and paper, some never have seen these before
“Draw me a picture of home”, she says
“Anything you can recall
Use all the colors, then we'll put them up on the wall”
And the children draw guns, bullets and blood
Soldiers in uniform burning their houses
Trampling gardens to mud
The children of San Caralampio draw pictures of guns
Look at them quietly working
Drawing with care and with pride
Showing no sign of the terrible memories hidden inside
But where are the sun and the rainbows?
Where are the birds in the skies?
Where are the circles of children who dance with the stars in their eyes?
Don't look for stars in the children's eyes
Don't look for sun in their sky
These are the children of war, who have watched their friends die
And the children draw guns, bullets and blood
Soldiers in uniform burning their houses
Trampling gardens to mud
The children of San Caralampio draw pictures of guns
Some say they will not remember
Some say they can't understand
Look at the pictures and see that they know what was done to their land
What have we done to these children?
What have we taken away?
Far from their homes, will they ever be free just to draw and to play?
Some will be soldiers before too long
Carrying guns of their own
Turned into pictures by children who'll never come home
And the soldiers draw guns…
And the bullets draw blood…
Schoolchildren gather around
From Guatemala their families have fled to this Mexican town
A woman from north of the border
Opens a box on the floor
Gives them all crayons and paper, some never have seen these before
“Draw me a picture of home”, she says
“Anything you can recall
Use all the colors, then we'll put them up on the wall”
And the children draw guns, bullets and blood
Soldiers in uniform burning their houses
Trampling gardens to mud
The children of San Caralampio draw pictures of guns
Look at them quietly working
Drawing with care and with pride
Showing no sign of the terrible memories hidden inside
But where are the sun and the rainbows?
Where are the birds in the skies?
Where are the circles of children who dance with the stars in their eyes?
Don't look for stars in the children's eyes
Don't look for sun in their sky
These are the children of war, who have watched their friends die
And the children draw guns, bullets and blood
Soldiers in uniform burning their houses
Trampling gardens to mud
The children of San Caralampio draw pictures of guns
Some say they will not remember
Some say they can't understand
Look at the pictures and see that they know what was done to their land
What have we done to these children?
What have we taken away?
Far from their homes, will they ever be free just to draw and to play?
Some will be soldiers before too long
Carrying guns of their own
Turned into pictures by children who'll never come home
And the soldiers draw guns…
And the bullets draw blood…
inviata da Bernart - 18/7/2013 - 14:24
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Testo trovato su Mudcat Café.
Non ho idea di chi possa essere l’autore di questa canzone, ma è senz’altro un americano che nei primi anni 80 ha assistito coi suoi occhi all’arrivo nel sud est del Messico (San Caralampio è in Chiapas), di migliaia di profughi, nella quasi totalità indigeni, provenienti dal vicino Guatemala dove proprio in quegli anni si stava consumando uno dei genocidi più recenti della Storia moderna. Iniziato dopo il 1954, anno in cui un golpe militare ordito dalla CIA rovesciò il legittimo presidente Jacobo Arbenz, lo sterminio della popolazione civile e di quella indigena in particolare (perché gli indigeni abitavano le foreste in cui operava la guerriglia) si protrasse fino alla pace siglata nei primi anni 90. Si ritiene che le vittime di quasi 40 anni di guerra civile siano state circa 200.000, il 90% delle quali uccise dai soldati del regime addestrati dai “Berretti Verdi” statunitensi…
Per una bella sintesi della vicenda si veda il film “Men with Guns” (da noi uscito come “Angeli armati”) per la regia di John Sayles, magistralmente interpretato dal grande attore argentino Federico Luppi.