The hill of the cannon (Cerro del cañón)

Another passage from my Dad’s book Elementary motherland (Patria elemental) inspired by the Thousand Days War.

The hill of the cannon (Cerro del cañón)

           

When you look at the hill of the cannon, to the west,

think of the sad times of hatred.

It was the Thousand Days War.

One of the parties placed, passed “Santo Domingo”,

beyond “Alfonso López”,

an enormous cannon that used to trouble

the inhabitants of the suburb.

From the edge of the hill,

the infernal invention fired deadly loads

toward the city.

The towers of the cathedral cracked.

Battered, they united with the patron saint of the city

and panic was defeated at first.

Later, hope was reborn.

At the end, victory surged,

and this meant peace to everyone.

Hill of the cannon. Mockery of a past

that the city will not suffer again!