Patria y honor

Steven Escobar Mendez

Nataj che?

There was a tragedy, do you remember?

There was violence, do you remember?

There were struggles, do you remember?

There was a promise, do you remember?

Of course I remember the tragedy, I still stand

Of course I remember the violence, It was in our land

Of course I remember the struggles, like the back of my hand

Tz’aqatisaj?

You always talked about no honor in forgetting your history

You always talked about no honor without liberty

You always talked about no honor in a solo victory 

You always talked about honoring the promesa, did you not?

Still do, I will never forget where I came from

Still do, take risk to maintain that outcome

Still do, but have past to overcome

Kojonel?

We used to talk about the land that, how it once was and could become

We used to talk about the place you wanted to escape from

We used to talk about the pact of brothers, stuck to them like gum

We used to talk about a promise you swore to uphold, did you not?

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of the eternal spring

I remember that place, and the goal of leaving went into full swing

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my brothers, it stings

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of that promise

I remember that promise that I swore to uphold

I wanted to honor that promise like if it was gold

My plan to go to the land, after everything, the promise was bold

But, ultimately, where was I?

“‘Patria y Honor’ revolves around Indigenous culture of my Guatemalan side, specifically because of its nickname, the land of Internal Spring, so I decided to mix English and Guatemalan words.”

Steven Escobar Mendez is a Mexican Guatemalan from
Washington DC, currently a junior at Lehigh University,
where he is studying Political Science and Global Studies. 

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