Compañero
when you drink
your cup of coffee
in the morning
think of El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
That black water
that sometimes tastes bitter
and another time sweet
that coffee
is the blood of muchos campesinos
that coffee
is the sweat
of many brown faces
that coffee
those red ripe beans
sometimes are the only food
for many children that eat them
get sick
and sometimes die

That coffee is the witness
the only witness
for the young girls
who are raped by the mayordomos
of the coffee plantations
that coffee
is the grave
of many campesinos
that asked for a fair wage
and were killed instead

That coffee
is the silent partner
and sometimes the weapon
of the capataz or mayordomo
who beat women
who refuse their advances
that coffee
is the one that you drink compañero
every morning
mid-afternoon
and night

That coffee
is the blood
the sweat
the tears
and the pain
of my brothers and sisters
in El Salvador
Guatemala and Honduras