May 9, 1997

GOODBYE TO A LADY

HAVANA,(APIC), - About two hundred people attended the monumental necropolis of Colon, to pay postumous homage to Dr. Dulce Maria Loynaz Mun~oz. Aside from a group of official dignitaries, there were common and anonymous people, carrying, in many cases, gladiolus flowers in their hands, waiting silently for the arrival of the hearse, which drove directly to the central chapel, where Dulce received the final rites. From there, the coffin was carried to its final resting place, covered by the flag which she, along with her family, loved and honored so much, and was followed by those present. Later came the goodbye speeches for a lady who appreciated highly the fertile silence of intelligence, and the press releases given by some present.

Mrs. Loynaz Mun~oz placed herself, through her works, at the very summit of her field, she delivered, as few can, a simple, poetic discourse and, at the same time, at the loftiest standards of human dignity. Mrs. Loynaz Mun~oz knew how to never renounce to what was rightfully hers, not her house, not her river, or her city, or her Island, or her God. She gave us a magnificent lesson in common sense, of loyalty to herself and to those close to her. She learned to listen, with marvelous indifference to the flattery of those who had forgotten her, and welcomed, with the surprise of old royalty, the opportunistic multitude which bothered her of late.

She gave us, in the end, a great lesson to all, through her silence full of message, because, in her poetry, everything was said.

Translated for CubaNet by Lourdes Arriete