For Ernesto Che Guevara

“If you tremble with indignation
at every injustice then you are a
comrade of mine.”

~ Ernesto Che Guevara

At long last
I’ve seen the past
and much like the future
it was murder
Since the beginning
of forever
brother Cain came
with low blows
to impose
a new world order
I thank Christ
some had time to grasp
the hand at task
For chaos never stops
to count the cost
But I blame myself
for a world of mayhem
and uncivilised disorder
ever since the canonization
of my dearest friend
Ernesto Che Guevara

We first met
in the midst
of a Parisian riot
on Bastille Day
Che was taking the flak
from a gendarme attack
with a cat named Trotsky
During the ensuing melee
a far right Gaullist
had the impertinence
to rip the yellow jacket
clean off my back
The gall of him!
Things were looking grim
as the Bern …
he jumped right in
having just returned
from a tour du jour
of East Berlin
The Last time I saw the Bern
he was mud wrestling
a tenacious Marion Le Pen

Amid the chaotic cries
and with tear gas
in his bloodshot eyes
Ernesto Che
still wearing his beret
stood victorious
In all my days
I’ve never seen anyone
so deliriously happy
Despite the sad demise
of Comrade Trotsky
From Russia with love
But that’s another
bedtime Stalin story

Some time later
(or was it sooner?)
Che sent out
an urgent distress call
from besieged Havana
Saying …
“This American blockade
is no May Day parade!”

So I promised him
I’d be there
like a Red Square
in a quick march hurry
And with a backpack full
of liberation theology
and dispossessed fury

With all the haste
of an arms race
in a Cuban missile crisis
I set sail
ready to storm
the gates of hell
with only my Kalashnikov
a ballistic missile
… Russian made
and a comrade with a vessel
willing to run
that bourgeois blockade
But we were soon boarded
bound and gagged
by the Presidential order
of none other than J.F.K.
Since the C.I.A.
were blowing up cargo boats
in the bay of Havana

The hammer and sickle
in a Caribbean swelter
As Castro and Kruschev
dug a fallout shelter
John Lennon took a trip
with Bob Dylan
back to the U. S. S. R.
seeking political asylum
as The John Birch Society
and even Ed Sullivan
were chasing after them
Can you imagine!?

I warned Ernesto
best not to go
to that rumble in the jungle
searching for El Dorado
Saying …
“Che, only martyrdom
and oblivion awaits
your Bolivian Revolution.
Insurgency ain’t all
it’s cracked up to be!”

The new and improved
opiate of the masses
is mass consumerism
Since money is classless
You either have it
… or you don’t
Simple as East and West
But if you’re a good unit
Brother Big will no doubt
give you a line of credit
after checking you out
on Mother Facebook

My dear friend Che
you may well say
you want a revolution
But the Kingdom within
is where it begins
The Nativity Holy
is a line drawn
in the sand of reality
The Marxist crime
against all reason
and the sublime
throwing baby Jesus out
with the dirty bathwater
of state religion
All whilst mainlining
the barbiturate delusion
of a utopian state
Some things are greater
than the politics of anger
And more powerful
than the economics
of greed and hate

Yet Jack Kennedy …
he saved my life
and somehow
avoided nuclear strife
with his Shock ‘n’ Awe
cold war law & order
So … what more can I say
than may God bless
Kruschev, Fidel Castro, J.F.K.
and that Doctor from Argentina
Ernesto Che Guevara

by David B. Redpath © 2017 – 20

screenshot_2017-10-26-17-57-28-01-01-1204205172.jpeg

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know
that you can count me out

~ John Lennon / Paul McCartney

The Gang of Three
at the Club Copacabana
Havana, circa. 1962

88 thoughts on “For Ernesto Che Guevara”

    1. Spiritually I’m Caledonian,
      taking refuge from the Evil
      Empire, in the Great South
      Land … Australia.
      l was concieved in NewYork,
      gestated on Long Island, then delivered Downunder.
      So currently,
      I don’t know where I am ?
      Thanks Aisha for enquiring.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Come in here, dear boy,
      have a cuban cigar.
      You’re gonna go far.
      You’re gonna fly high.
      You’re never gonna die.
      You’re gonna make it
      if you try.
      They’re gonna love you.
      I’ve always had a deep respect
      and I mean that most sincere.
      The band is just fantastic.
      That is what Uncle Sam said.
      … Oh, by the way Che,
      is Castro really Red?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. please, don’t shoot the pianist, was far for me to transform this action into something uncomfortable; on the contrary, was a really pleasant moment of reading and interpretation

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I’m not a political person, but Che Guevara was in many ways awesome. And when plans beget change and command the years of coming to listen and beget more change, you know there’s been some shift in legion and power…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I was once a bit political
      till I got the message …
      “Don’t follow leaders.
      Watch your parking meters.”
      Now, when it comes to men
      Seeking and weilding power,
      I’ve become rather cynical.
      As today’s hero becomes
      tomorrow’s scoundrel.
      When it comes to the illusion
      we call democracy, que sera, sera.
      What shall be, shall be.
      Politics is class warfare by means
      other than those used by Che Guevara.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  6. Come back, NY and L I forgive your flight Down Under and need you back to fight the Great Unbelievable TwitterMouth.

    As to Che, he lives in our hearts forever as someone who tried while the rest of us were swilling our rumandcokes and buying our Che T shirts. Sarah

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you very much, Sarah.
      My conscience had been bothering me.
      But there is work to be done Down Under,
      since the 1975 Aussis coup d’état.
      A bit like Chile and Argentina, only
      a bit friendlier 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Yes, I did my best, Bojana 😎
      It all reminds me of a Beatles song …

      You say you want a revolution
      Well, you know
      We all want to change the world
      You tell me that it’s evolution
      Well, you know
      We all want to change the world
      But when you talk
      about destruction
      Don’t you know that you
      can count me out
      Don’t you know it’s gonna be
      All right, all right, all right
      You say you got a real solution
      Well, you know
      We’d all love to see the plan
      You ask me for a contribution
      Well, you know
      We’re doing what we can
      But if you want money
      for people with minds that hate
      All I can tell is brother
      you have to wait
      Don’t you know it’s gonna be
      All right, all right, all right
      You say you’ll change
      the constitution
      Well, you know
      We all want to change
      your head
      You tell me
      it’s the institution
      Well, you know
      You better free
      you mind instead
      But if you go carrying
      pictures of chairman Mao
      You ain’t going to make it
      with anyone anyhow
      Don’t you know it’s gonna be
      All right, all right, all right ✌️

      ~ Lennon / Mccartney

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. There’s an interesting history to that photo,
      J. T., that I hinted at in my little story;

      “Guerrillero HEROICO
      (Heroic Guerrilla FIGHTER)
      is an iconic photograph of Marxist
      revolutionary Che Guevara taken by
      Alberto Korda. It was captured on
      March 5, 1960, in Havana, Cuba, at a
      memorial service for victims of the
      La Coubre EXPLOSION.”

      A civilian cargo boat blown up by the C. I. A..
      Che walked up to the microphone, after Fidel
      Castro had spoken to the crowd. But Che was
      so angry at what had happened, that he was
      unable to speak. He just stared out at the
      audience for just a moment, speechless, and
      then walked off. That’s when Korda took the
      photo. He certainly captured the moment.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. From the Worker’s United Collective
      of my heart, thank you Charlie 😎
      The fall of the U. S. S. R. helped to put
      that delusional genie back in the jar.
      Some say that Globalism has lifted
      many out of poverty. Yet simultaneously
      many enslaved in a footwear factory.
      Che was launched into his revolutionary
      career after witnessing the utter poverty
      and the tyranny of his home country,
      Argentina. He was a doctor, with a social
      conscience , from a privileged background.
      Without cultural context it’s hard to judge
      whether or not he had a good answer
      to the plight of the truly exploited poor
      of South America.
      And yes, violence is never the way 🙏

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. You are welcome my friend. 🙂

        Here’s a quote:

        Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. ~Frederick Douglass

        Liked by 2 people

  16. I was captivated by Che, he was a maverick, not to be tied down by ideology, even though he wrote some and spruiked it. He did his thing. Though there’s no real core comparison, I often think of Trotsky. Che warned that the revolution would atrophy as soon as it became comfortable. Really enjoyed reading this reflective and also punchy poem.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you in solidarity, Paul ✊
      Just as you won’t fool the children
      of the revolution, there is no escaping
      the third law of thermodynamics
      … entropy.
      And as George Orwell expounded in
      ‘1984’, tyranny always needs an enemy
      to keep the citizenry subservient, and
      willing to sacrifice for some abstract
      greater glory. The U. S. S. R., unlike the
      U. S., could not sustain a perpetuale
      war footing. Che chose the way of
      violence, at a time of Martin Luther
      King, Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma
      Gandhi.
      But unless you’re able to walk a mile
      in his shoes, I choose not to judge
      him harshly.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you very much, Scott.
      I was once allergic to nostalgia,
      as people rarely realise that
      they’ve never had it so good.
      But the by examining the past
      with the microscope of truth,
      I truly hope we need not repeat it.
      Perched on the eve of mass
      destruction, narrowly avoided a
      nuclear blast.
      The future is ever unclear …
      and wears a black mask.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  18. A cold war treat fantastic for the masses, and everyone else in between. Old man Kruschev applauds with his two ghostly boots, wherever he is.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. Let’s hope they put an end
        To their ideological battles.
        In the afterlife become friends
        Instead of ringing nuclear rattles

        Liked by 2 people

  19. Truly profound. The degree to which cultural Marxism has influenced Western society goes largely unrecognized. Marxists view conflict as the primary tool of change. They continually seek to divide and conquer. As a result, Western society has become increasingly fragmented.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. The “politically correct” extreme left,
      who tolerate no dissent (much like
      the Nazis & Bolsheviks) are curtailing
      the freedom of speech of anyone else.
      In Australia the previous left wing
      government made it illegal to “offend”
      anyone. A lawyer’s picnic ever since,
      with ALL the threatened court cases
      involving Christians quoting the bible.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  21. I love your shirt. :)) 🙏
    It’s a paisley population
    with an eye for harmonic peace.
    “Not just another pretty face” 😎
    you pull patterns together
    in pax-path ways. ☮️ 🕊✌️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you insurgently, Lia ⭐
      I wear that Che T-shirt regularly to
      scare the crap out of aristocrats
      and the bourgeoisie 😎
      But yes, the path of pax is the way
      to be if we all wish to be free 🙏

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Lol, love. I like that one too,
        and Che and you
        are such handsome dudes
        but I actually meant the paisley one.
        You know I love some good patterns, 🕸🧵
        especially ones with a hint of underlying blue. ;)) 🌀
        But that’s my cuppa green tea. 🤩🕺🍵✨🌿😊

        Liked by 1 person

  22. Brilliant how you can express something so deep and a memory of someone so great with such coolness. Che Guevara was a man modern leaders should learn a lesson from.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Muchos gracias, Amigo.
      Che was the love child of Helter
      and Skelter. The exploitation and
      oppression he was confronted
      with in South America.

      Another harvest
      The grapes of wrath
      With tears of rage
      And uncivilised unrest
      Flooding the streets
      Man’s inhumanity
      to his fellow man
      The ground zero of crime
      On the edge of insanity

      Like

      Reply

  25. Wow amigo, que ARTE (in capital letters) tienes! A wonderful work of poetry,
    truth-telling, and Che-celebration. He just called to say he loves it. Also, when
    is the Stalin bedtime story happening? Can I RSVP for that? I remember reading Che´s biography as a teenager, loved it, and I thoroughly enjoyed your poetic storytelling here! Gracias amigo! Abrazos desde Andalucia, hope you are well 💖🙏

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Mea culpa, Señorita Gypsy. Your
      mas gracioso comentario seems
      to have got misplaced, like a
      revolutionary in the Bolivian jungle.
      Ernesto Che Guevara was a greatly
      misunderstood icon (especially by
      the C. I. A.). I have played around
      with the idea of the story behind
      Leon Trotsky’s affair with Frida
      Kahlo, which would have to include
      a cameo appearance of Joe Stalin.
      A Bolshevik ménage à trois!? 😎
      Never been so pandemonously
      and pandemically busy, Gypsy.
      Un fuerte abrazo de mi parte 💛

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. No pasa nada, Mr. Redpath, Che told me as much. The WP agents do at times omit some key information bits like my comments 😛 hehehe.
        I would love you to zoom in on my much beloved Frida Kahlo, Trotsky and Stalin as special guest! Bolshevic menage a trois it is! 😎 Good to hear you are keeping busy.
        Gracias por el fuerte abrazo, it just arrived and
        brightened up my day! Otro para ti, amigo de Che! 💛 Hasta prontito!! 💛

        Liked by 1 person

    1. When a peaceful protest
      turns into violence
      and the looting starts
      it’s a green light
      for the criminal classes
      to get a free pair
      of Nike Air Max trainers
      A righteous cause
      is lost in the flames
      and a cloud of tear gas
      But at least I got
      a nice pair of runners 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Ever since the Garden of Forever
      things have gone badly wrong.
      Man’s inhumanity to his fellow man
      cannot continue for too long.
      The greedy get richer, as the weak,
      meek, and humble, are left to suffer.
      But like a thief in the night
      In the blink of an eye
      All things will be put right 🙏

      Like

      Reply

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