I Cultivate a White Rose
By Jose Marti
I
cultivate a white rose
In July as in January
For the sincere friend
Who gives me his hand frankly.
And
for the cruel person who tears out
the heart with which I live,
I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns:
I cultivate a white rose.
Folk
singer Pete Seeger adapted this poem to lyrics and music and named the song
"Guantanamera"
"We are free, but not to be evil, not to
be indifferent to human suffering, not to profit from the people, from the work
created and sustained through their spirit of political association, while
refusing to contribute to the political state that we profit from. We must say no
once more. Man is not free to watch impassively the enslavement and dishonor of
men, nor their struggles for liberty and honor."
~ Jose Marti
"...When the
wheel of pain stops turning
And the branding iron stops burning
When the children can be children
When the desperados weaken
When the sea rolls into greet them
When the natural law of science
Greets the humble and the mighty
And the billion candles burning
Lights the dark side of every human mind
Each small candle
Lights a corner of the dark…”
~ Roger Waters, Each Small Candle