Murder of the housekeeper’s daughter, Celina

in El Salvador November 1989,

with six priests and Celina’s mother, Elba.

this is the clock

that struck the hour

at 3 am

while the priests slept

and this is the heart

that beat in the breast

of the 15-year-old daughter

of the sleeping housekeeper

who swept the floors

now sullied with blood

where they dragged her out

with the beaten bodies

of the bloody priests

who lay on the lawn

their brains removed

covered with sheets

all but their feet.

this is the gun

and the boots too

that equipt the death squad &

hired by the boss

who murdered the priests

and the housekeeper too

and the daughter too.

this is the congress

that paid for the guns

and paid the boss

and warned the boss

not to kill anymore priests

or anymore nuns

and housekeepers too

and daughters too.

this is the listener

and the talker too

who know disaster

and loss and death

who know the ground

can eat you up

for no good reason

and there’s nothing to do

nothing to do

who vote for the congress

and pay the taxes

that buy the guns

and buy the boots

and warn the boss

who found the men

to kill the priests

and kill the housekeeper

And the daughter too.

these are the singers

and the dancers too

who danced in that furnace

that we have built:

Ellcuria and all the priests,

Martin-Varo, Segundo Montes

and Moreno, and Lopez-Lopez

and Lopez too.

Elba Ramos

and Celina Too.