Ruins

by Anisa Abeytia Yamani - Aquarius

Ruins
for my mother
inspired by the Chilam Balam


III

All over Mexico the ruins
of Civilizations
dot the country.

Monuments to the
Aliens that came from
the blue-green sky,
to show the inhabitants
how to build,
how to live.

Or

A testimony to the
ingenuity of the
Egyptians,
sailing reeds
across the sea.
Made to do so by Ra;
to demonstrate the
majesty of the 
Pharo-gods.
By building pyramids
and then returning home.
Placing the bodies of 
the dead, native kings
into the inner chambers.

Perhaps,

A recollection of a people who burn
becoming cinders in the
blowing wind,
out to sea.
A people who continue to burn
as they move north
and weep.
Weep,
for ash does not suffer.

Grow,
Instead new monuments to yourself.

Cease,
to burn the twigs of hate.
Instead,
use them to build true testimonies of ingenuity;
for you, for me,
Us.

IV

In the early days of archeology,
The archaeologists came to carve their names
into the rocks,
to celebrate their own identities
along side pre-Columbian nobility.

These academics must have
raised up their hammers and picks
to carve away at immortality.

I won't mention their names.
I refuse to be an accomplice
to the blows they struck
against archeology.

V

The National Museum in Mexico City
would have been empty
if it weren't for replicas.

Come look at this,
the original's in England,
the attic of the world.

A manuscript,
re-copied from memory
the original,
burned.

A quetzal head dress,
it's on loan from
Austria.

A mural of the Aztec
underworld.
Re-done.
The wall it was painted on
was torn down.

The people who burn
once had gifts for their gods
Gifts that celebrated themselves,
gifts that were witness
to the destruction of the jaguar.
Birth sign: Aquarius
Date created: 2000-04-13 02:22:30
Last updated: 2021-03-03 14:42:02
Poem ID: 55493

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