Los años del hambre (The Years of Hunger)

At the hand of the Dictator many souls died,

And the poor noble Spaniards started losing their pride.

So their children were kidnapped to an island offshore,

Brainwashed to a fascist legend and lore.

A few citizens fled to the hills to resist;

For their efforts the soldiers refused to desist.

The brave rebels attempted guerilla warfare,

Often beaten by the forces found there.

The same General was seen to be hero or damned,

Depending on blessings or beatings men had.

All Republicans ran and they fled for their lives,

Had to burn all their papers and send off their wives.

At the end of his reign, the country was torn,

Ravaged by years of the ache it had borne.

Countless War Children with no hope of home,

And a country divided, the marrow from bone.

Comments

Rory said…
Very interesting poem! I liked it a lot especially the ending relating to a torn and divided Spain :0
18 April, 2010 12:00
almadecolor said…
Thank you! This poem was for an assignment for a class several summers ago. We were supposed to do an anapestic poem, (think most nursery rhymes), but make sure it didn't sound like a cheesy nursery rhyme. I loved studying the history of Spain, and Los años del hambre came to mind. Hard to believe that Spain was still under Franco's rule until 35 years ago!
19 April, 2010 11:55
almadecolor said…
John, "Los años del hambre" is based on a group of people's perspective of Spain during the 40s, before the economic boom. I know not your background, nor your credibility, but the picture that was painted to me by the Spaniards in southern Spain when I lived there and in my university Spanish history classes was not one of safe streets, a peaceful, thriving nation, or of utopian existence. I don't know if you can read Spanish, but the following link, has a few interesting thoughts on the time period which I wrote my poem about: http://www.historiasiglo20.org/HE/15a-2.htm. About the Disappeared Children during Franco's reign, (in English): http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/francisco_franco/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/spain-missing-children-franco
http://www.spainreview.net/index.php/2011/01/28/disappearance-of-children-during-the-franco-era/

I did not write the poem as a commentary on all of Spanish history henceforth. It is a snapshot of a small margin of time and one side of the story. That's what all texts do, even history books. You are entitled to your opinion. I do believe, however, that I "do my homework", and have enough credibility in my research and life experience to write what I did.
25 December, 2011 16:11
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