Vicente de la Serna - English
Poetry by Vicente de la Serna
UNDER LOCK AND KEY
The penitents opened the coffin
of historical stench
the pestilence of man
the rot we believed
buried
under lock and key.
The ignorant unleashed the wreckage
of the past,
shivering in inoculated fears,
delusions sold by the ton
by media ringleaders
broadcasting in prime time
the agony of millions.
Today they roam free
fascist wolves, nazis, and cynics
disguised as victims,
victimizing their own delusions
in the Russian roulette
of their good intentions.
The fanatics adorn their crimes
with television smiles,
with lights, marketing, and scripted tales,
those new prophets of destruction,
stale choruses of contempt
parading their obsessions
across plutocratic sets,
normalizing relentless cruelty.
A numb jury nods in unison,
rhythmic,
stripped of all empathy
for the neighbour of another skin,
for the free spirit living their life,
for the one refusing the uniform,
while modern enforcers banish with force
unfamiliar bodies and their longed-for grace
that once moved mountains...
or so they say.
The wretches have returned!
Shredding rights,
creeping into your home,
dictating which idols to worship
second only to their wealth.
The wretches have returned!
Spewing waste into the midst of your days,
your peace, and your quiet hope,
wielding grievances like trophies
and malice as holy writ.
I want to believe
that joy still serves
as hope does
when love seems misplaced,
when humanity stirs
in the mud of indifference—
I want to believe.
If someone promises sorrow,
unavoidable sacrifice,
and necessary misery,
look at who profits—
at offshore reserves and private balance sheets—
and you will find those
exiling your dreams
with an insatiable thirst
for conflict and dominion.
Four billion years
the earth needed to become earth.
Humanity arrived
in the bare last minute—
time enough for malice
to erase your right to breathe,
striking at feelings first
before turning to everything you hold dear.
I LOOK OUTWARD
I look outward
From their eyes
And the world
turns uninhabitable.
Laconic, I watched
A repeated explosion
So close
Televising remnants
Of broken humanity.
I appreciate
A simple smile,
a kind gesture,
A quiet thank you
with the weight of destiny.
Yet I know
As in art
Or in love,
nothing ever suffices.
I have sought to dwell
in the truth
of the instant,
to taste good wine
as passion
and a conversation
that will not come again,
conscious
or oblivious
to the shadow that lingers
beyond the moment.
Perhaps madness is not disease,
but a defense of the soul.
And I become the world
Along with the world,
Far away
From their eyes.
Brief biography
Origins and beginnings
Vicente de la Serna is a Chilean-born writer and visual artist. In his own words, his artistic path began in early childhood when a schoolteacher recognized a distinct sensibility in his drawings. He grew up in the Atacama Desert, nurtured in a family atmosphere shaped by his grandfather, a performer of boleros and tangos, and his father, a carpenter and visionary who encouraged his creative ambitions.
Youth and historical background
Starting in 1984, he studied physics and natural sciences at the Universidad de La Serena. During this era, amidst the military dictatorship in Chile, he became actively involved in political resistance.
In 1985, he was detained by military forces during a demonstration and imprisoned. In 1986, he was expelled from the university and tried in absentia by a military court, spending nearly five years under an arrest warrant. Later, supported by a scholarship, he studied sociology at the ARCIS University in Santiago.
🎨 Artistic career
Alongside his academic life, De la Serna has always maintained a productive practice as a painter. Between 1987 and 1993, he exhibited and sold his artworks at Galería Casa Azul in Santiago's bohemian Bellavista district. To survive, he also created studies of classic masters such as Dalí, Picasso, and Monet, discreetly placing an "R" within each piece to distinguish it from the original.
📖 Literary work
His recent literary releases include the novel "Cuando nacen las ausencias" and the poetry collection "24+1 Podcast para van Gogh", published in 2025 by Las Lolas Editorial. The book is an evocative journey confronting memory, historical wounds, exile, love, and human vulnerability. Literary reviewers frequently note echoes of Roberto Bolaño, Pedro Lemebel, and César Vallejo throughout his texts, with German translations appearing in 2026.
