Poem for Fidel Castro

And so the mightiest of the mighty 

has now departed this mortal coil 

forever embraced

forever the hero 

of revolutionists, freedom fighters 

and surprisingly
ecologists
everywhere 

when we write the history
of our planet
of our inspirations and dreams

there will always be Fidel
there will always be Che
there will always be Celia
and there will always be Cuba
standing up for the poor
the workers

withstanding the hundreds 

of assassination plots 

of the imperial giant
to the North 

Fidel
how different
how much poorer
how much less possibility 

less imagination
our lives
would have held
without you
sitting there
towering 

by Mitchel Cohen