Manuel Aguilera

“Winds of the People carry me Along”

2015

C/Tomillo

A small painting by Orihuela artist Manuel Aguilera. With his characteristic style, Aguilera depicts a large sailing boat, symbolic of the trip to freedom. To complete the metaphor, the painting rests on the verses of Miguel Hernández Winds of the People carry me Along.

Winds of the people carry me along,
winds of the people pull me along,
they sprinkle my heart about
and bring air to my throat.

Oxen bow down their brows,
impotent and meek,
when punished:
lions raise theirs
and at the same time they inflict punishment
with their clamorous claws.

I am not from a people of oxen,
I am from a people who embody
ancient settlements of lions,
high passes of eagles
and mountain ranges of bulls
bearing pride as their flag.
Oxen never prospered
on the barren plains of Spain.