essence of survival

ancestors
greening
the gray
mixing light
rain transformation
our creation
continuous
survival
our age spots
proof tattoos
of our out lasting the
death wishes
and life's blizzards
like contractable diseases
cyclones
earthquakes
famines
floods, the landslides
electrical storms
tornadoes
tsunamis
volcanic eruptions
wildfires and bushfires
and other natural disasters
even our own young and dumb
stupidity when we thought
we were invincible
still
we've rivaled destruction
worked at constructing
within the mezcla
with our egungun
the old reinventing
themselves
new within us
their wise eyes rising
from the red-brown
southern soil
color of hearts
buried there and
Ogun's breath helped us
plant the possibilities
blessing the mess
of collisions
of cultures
of the enemy within
challenging us to
destroy or create we
waited for the moon
to loom brighter
to spark omens
relay codes or show us
roads with new doors
or guide precision in our
decisions our thinking but
it was a vision
that saved us
from extinction
ancestors
reached out and
gifted us
the distinction
of their glyphs
their palabras
codices brimming
with power
showered us with
corn pollen knowledge
answers
if we chose to
listen


© Odilia Galván Rodríguez, 2010











note: glyph 1=corn, glyph 2=flower, glyph 3=essence.