Captain, our Destiny is a Wandering Island (Capitán, el rumbo es una isla errante)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

This song was dedicated to Óscar Castro, whom I was lucky enough to meet in 1975, in Puchuncaví. With his experience in theatre – Óscar was already a fairly well-known actor before his arrest – he threw himself into the cultural work we had organised, in what was then called “Camp Melinka” where the prisoners presented a show every Friday.

Our friendship was brief but very intense. Several times, in the middle of a serious conversation he would disconnect and climb aboard an imaginary boat called El Supertricio and he would invite me to sail with him through the kingdom of his imagination. At such moments, I was able to forget that I was in prison.


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Published on: 23 September 2015

I became good friends with a captain
venerated by the waters
and by all the fauna of the sea.
A noble gentleman
adventure lover
a major commodore.

Who one night got lost
when raging wind
like the emperor’s roar
blew his ship
taking it off course
taking him to prison.

Full sail! Cast off!
The compass doesn’t mark north
the course is to a wandering island
captain.

Three days later the captain
poet of the seven seas
friend of freedom
reached a port without light.
His galleon was half tilted
the flag at half-mast.

And I told him: Captain
Wooden is your ship
Steel are your crew.
Better times will come
don’t loosen the sails
and steady the prow.

Full sail! Navigate!
The compass doesn’t mark north
we are headed to a wandering island
captain.

Related testimonies:

  • Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto)  Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

    Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on 11 September 1973), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976

    In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.

  • Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week.

  • Song of a Middle-Class Man (Canción de un hombre medio)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    In our political discussions, we always spoke disdainfully of the middle class. In the view of the Marxist ideologues in prison, that sector of society supported the dictatorship and it was necessary to reverse that trend.

  • How Can I Describe This to You? (Cómo hacer para darte una idea)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    This is one of two songs I wrote in prison for my beloved Graciela. In the song I tried to draw her closer to me, describing my everyday world and my experience of life as a captive.

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