No revolution, only poets proclaim peace in Cuba

This week poets proclaim peace in Cuba . Together with bards they defend humanity from war and aggression. But if poets don't fight for peace, they ask, who will? "It is our place to guide man toward peace," said Ana Maria Pedroso, a Cuban poet who lives in Milan , Italy .

Photo: No revolution, only poets proclaim peace in Cuba

No revolution, only poets proclaim peace in Cuba

Ciprian Cabrera Jasso was among the optimists. "Peace will come, but slowly, through individuals," said the 55-year-old poet, a monk in the meditative Ishaya Tibetan tradition who lives in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco . People must find their own inner tranquility first, then pass it on, he said.

"Without even uttering the word peace, I can transmit it through a poem," he said. "With images of beauty, I can transmit calmness." Cabrera Jasso wears all red, which to him signifies life. He believes the world is increasingly ready for peace, and that more and more people are working toward it despite media images that suggest the world is becoming more violent.

"One only sees the violence, not the peace," he said. "But it's there." Poets from 35 countries joined the festival sponsored by the Cuban government artists and writers union, including Yevgeni Yevtushenko of Russia , Spain 's Camilo de Ory and Brazil 's Pedro Candela. They gave public readings at city parks and churches, libraries and schools, even the rum museum and a tobacco factory.

Words, they said, are their weapons against violence, war and prejudice. And while emphasizing the philosophical, they didn't shun the political aiming barbs at their Cuban hosts' chief rival, the United States . Famed Cuban poet Miguel Barnet, who has served in communist Cuba's parliament, recited a poem ridiculing the culture of Miami, where many Cuban exiles live: "There's the cultural house of Calvin Klein, the cultural house of Gucci, the cultural house of McDonald's", reports the AP.

N.U.