Five hundred years after Columbus’ landing on the “New” continent
by Pina Piccolo
Swallowed by vine, the labyrinth,
Deep in the forest
Swallowed by vine,
Surrounded by a river
Surrounded by indios
- On market days, the women
Cross the Usumacinta on frail boats
Trading vibrant plumage colors
For tin coins,
Camouflage cloth,
Deep in the forest,
Swallowed by vine
Chameleons against foliage and rock.
Tonight on the temple steps
The moon will draw
A serpent
Offering the red fruit
Of knowledge
To those who live
With the taste of fear.
Tonight the monkeys will scream
From top branches and scorpions
Will hide under rocks.
Tonight Mauro, the Christian
Lacandon, guardian of the Mayan temple
Will erect a small shrine
To a nameless god
And cry for drunken forgiveness
To a wife he’s betrayed.
Then, machete in hand
Brandishing revenge
He will howl with the forest
A curse,
Lingering echo
Of a festering wound.
A grain of time
In the hourglass of history
Runs the gauntlet
Of memory
Today.
(1992)
[1] Yaxchilan was an ancient Mayan city, now an archaeological site, in the Lacandon forest, in the state of Chiapas (Mexico), near the border with Guatemala. The site is known for its well preserved stelae and lintels, some of which depict rituals connected with the seers’ initiation ceremonies.
Commenti
Posta un commento