Saturday, June 25, 2011

I'm a lucky guy

I was navigating the web yesterday searching for info about the town where I was born and I ended reading about 3 Cuban writers that I knew personally.

The first was Miguel Barnet. I never talked to him a word. At least that's what I remember. I was a child living few doors next to his house and that fact was enough to positively influence my life in the love for books and reading. His book The runaway slave is in my opinion a Cuban classic. From the 3 writers, he is the one better known around the world and the reason for this is his participation in the Cuban government.

The second writer was Dora Alonso. It was a night in the library of Santa Clara. She was signing books for a young group of "wanna be" writers. I was there and I left that night that library full of dreams, wise advices and her book Aventuras de Guille dedicated to me by her. A treasure that I later lost together with all the material things that I owned in Cuba. But I kept this memory, biggest and most important thing if you ask me. I never became a famous writer like I wanted but I never have forgotten her and all her good advices telling me to be honest and write from the deepest of my heart.

The last writer was Hilda Oráa Carratalá. I could not even find her name in the Wikipedia or the web. A search for my name results in more hits. Unfortunately in Cuba those who are more actively participating in the so called "revolution" are the ones most published around the world, unless you decide to try your fortune in another country. But Hilda was Hilda full of love and she could not have lived away from Caibarien, La Villa Blanca, the little and almost unknown town where she worked as a elementary school teacher. Her poems are from another time. Nothing compare. And her books, mostly for children are fool of sweetness.

So, this is why I feel lucky. I did not become a famous writer, that's true. But I learned from these tree cubans writers to love the beauty inside of any good book. I learned from 2 of them to write from my heart when I do that in whatever page online I'm writing for and about whatever topic I'm commenting. Without anybody censuring my words even when I was paid to write. I learned from one of them to teach giving love. So, yes, I'm definitely a lucky guy. I'm who I'm by my own decision.

I found online the blogs of few people that I knew during my young years in high school. Few of those blogs are originals. The rest full of the same words copied from the Cuban government newspapers. It's sad when you have to do that to maintain a plate of black beans in your dinner table. To those I say... Do not forget Yiya. Break the rules and censure writing about love. You will never get published by your government but at least everybody will remember you with the same love that I remember Hilda.







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