I sent you a dinerito por Western Union
y te mandé the código to your WhatsApp
también. Like always. There’s nothing
left to do except wait for the “your
money transfer has been picked up”
ding in my email. And a thumbs up
emoji from you in Messenger. Like
always. Instead, it’s an endless scroll
of tire fires and memes with ¡FRAUDE!
and ¡FUERA JOH LADRÓN! in the mouths
of everyone from Spongebob to Obama
to Chavo del Ocho. From everyone
but you. Shaky clips from polling places
captioned, “This is proof of election
tampering!” “This is our life under
the dictator!” and “We demand
a recount of every single vote
on live television!” Two ancianas push
a washing machine up the street,
but it’s not you. Maybe you’re at tía’s
and you’ve run out of datos. Maybe
you didn’t want to be seen walking
out of the banco—everyone knows you
leave there with Lempiras in your pocket.
Another joke about lifting a T.V. from
the electrodomesticos store before
the government issues the 6 pm curfew,
but it’s still not you. You’re not in any
of the foreign press photos of the cacerolazos
—one of the tens of thousands in the streets
banging on pots and pans for justice. Maybe
you got picked up for breaking the toque
de queda. Maybe you’re out giving Pecsi
y galletas to the fuerzas armadas who
said they wouldn’t turn their guns against
the protestors anymore porque —somos
el pueblo también! Or maybe you don’t
believe them. Maybe you locked your gate
and turned off your phone to save the battery,
just in case, because you saw what they did
to that jovencita de 19 años. Dios Santo.
READ MORE
Protesters Denounce Honduras Election Fraud [Democracy Now]
Honduran Riot Police Refuse to Carry Out Crackdown [Democracy Now]
Teen Among 3 Dead in Honduran Protests [CBC]
Abigail Carl-Klassen has been published in ZYZZYVA, Cimarron Review, Guernica, Aster(ix)
