Squirrels
If the squirrels were to devour your eyes Modigliani would bring you to life in one of his paintings. For the next poem in this sequence, click here. The post Squirrels appeared first on Words Without...
View ArticleAt Times
At times sleep deserts me and lest I pass the night turning over in bed I go out to chat with the moon. She tells me about the flower that could turn into a butterfly and the butterfly that could turn...
View ArticleSix Variations on Love
Note: These poems were originally written in Zapoteco. I Love comes heavy like a weight one cannot long carry without cursing. II Love is a feather in the air. Although it is also the sun. It rises and...
View ArticleSchool
Note: This poem was originally written in Yucatecan Maya. And the ants that sing, laugh, dance and play in circles, began to cry. She was born a woman, one on whom they threw boiling water when she...
View ArticleThat Day
That day she arrived with such force that she destroyed with one big blow my loneliness. For the next poem in this sequence, click here. The post That Day appeared first on Words Without Borders.
View ArticleDreamhouse
Note: This poem was originally written in Yucatecan Maya. Child Little brother Jaguar race of the indomitable mystical spirit your strength is of the earth the sun the water the air and the fire...
View ArticleTo My Grandfather
My grandfather's steps are done; he has walked so much. Now the earth moves little by little beneath his feet so that he will be able to approach the edge of the sun. For the next poem in this...
View ArticleThe Paths
Note: This poem was originally written in Mazateco. All paths arrive at the only road that exists. In the darkness only mystery is transparent. No one answers, silence too is a way to scream, and I go...
View ArticleLaughter
Note: All of the poems in this sequence were originally written in K'iche'. The laughter of the waves is the foam. For the next poem in this sequence, click here. The post Laughter appeared first on...
View ArticleThe Indigenous Literature of the Americas
In late August, Mexico City and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico signed an agreement to teach Náhuatl language and culture to Nahua (Aztec) students in Santa Ana Tlacotenco in the high southern...
View ArticleOpening Poem of the Cantares Mexicanos
This poem was originally written in Classical Náhuatl. It is the first poem in the group known as the “Cantares Mexicanos.” The Náhuatl title is “Cuicapeuhcáyotl,” which Miguel León-Portilla translates...
View ArticleOrigins of the Indians in the New World
Note: This poem was originally written in Zapoteco. It was first published in Valencia, Spain, in 1607. Fray Gregorio had heard the story from Zapotecs. The work is a fragment. The name 1-deer,...
View ArticlePoverty
Note: This piece was originally written in Yucatecan Maya, and was probably adapted from the oral tradition. The Maya to Spanish translation was done in a collaboration with Miguel Angel May May,...
View Article“I am like a solitary star”
Note: This poem was originally written in Zapoteco. I am like a solitary star shining in the sky, and I do not need another to glitter. The post “I am like a solitary star” appeared first on Words...
View ArticleWho Are We? What Is Our Name?
Note: This poem was originally written in Zapoteco. To speak, to say yes to the night; To say yes to the darkness. With whom to speak, what to say if there is no one in this house and so alone, I hear...
View ArticleA Traveler’s Tale
Note: This piece was originally written in Ñahñu. A traveler felt hungry and stopped at a house, asking if they would sell him some food. The lady of the house said yes, that she would give him some...
View ArticleMy Encounter with Xtabay
Note: This piece was originally written in Yucatecan Maya. It comes from a very small publication in a part of the Yucatán peninsula still very close to the area dominated by groups that remain...
View ArticleAlux
Note: This work was written originally in Yucatecan Maya, the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico. Miguel Angel May May, the writer and cultural leader, has been responsible for the...
View ArticleThe One Who Went to Learn to Lie
Note: This poem was originally written in Zapoteco. There was someone in the old days, they say, who wanted to learn to lie. That’s what he told his father, who answered, “I will send you to the...
View ArticleLaziness
Note: This piece was originally written in Purépecha. There once was a man who was very poor, but also indolent. He tried hard to survive, by cutting firewood in the countryside and by selling it, in...
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