March for the Red Dead

KMT troops rounding up Communist prisoners for execution during Shanghai insurrection (1927)
KMT troops rounding up Communist prisoners for execution during Shanghai insurrection (1927)

March for the Dead

By Whittaker Chambers
May 23, 1927

For the dead who died fighting for us in arms, for the dead;
For the dead who died in prisons for the Revolution, for the imprisoned dead;
For those who died actively working in the factories, or among the workers on the land, for these dead,
We march today, comrades, workers.
And for the living, for the living, for the living;
And for all lives freely given to the Revolution,
For all activity and thought transforming the world and the lives of the masses thru struggle,
We march today, comrades, workers.
But while we are living we take part in the process of change,
And when we die we are aware of nothing more;
So, more than the living, today we honor the Revolution’s martyrs, the dead;
For the dead, the dead, the dead,
we march, comrades, workers. 1

Notes:

  1. Daily Worker, May 23, 1927, page 6
 

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