Xoxoctli ~ Little Green

for RL

verde como nosotros
when we met in that
long ago yoliztli
cuando éramos
tiernos como el maíz
verde as our love we thought
would last siempre
but forever is a long time
y los verdecitos no saben
nada del tiempo ni como
se mueve mas rápido
the older people get
pero un yolotli no se olvida
el teteyollocuicatl de su amante
a heart that flowers

xoxoctli
in yuh (así como) tu y yo
cuando creíamos que éramos
todo lo necesario
to live a life in love
and together always
y lo vivimos así hasta que no
you went your path y yo el mio
but always you had temactli
ipan no (poder sobre mi) and
I was only safe
when I didn’t know
where tu corazón latía
couldn’t feel it calling me
from so far away
now I hear it
dondequiera que voy
lo oigo
y me persigue
me llama
tú, corazón
your heart

Copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

Notes on the Nahuatl words ~

teteyollocuicatl: heart beat
yoliztli: life
yolotli: heart
xoxoctli: little green

December Senryū 2013

December Senryū  2013

there are no borders | for butterflies know freedom | ignore barriers

a better world | possible with faith and love | struggle for freedom

you who brought laughter | your leaving left tears | will always be remembered

creativity | bring beauty into the world | for the joy of all

a sense of purpose | caring for more than ourselves | for the greater good

support our own | vendors and businesses | cooperate to win

responsibility | for self and community | collective love

from the whispering basket | spirit-saints whispered | truths from the other side

listen to your heart | think with your own mind | for self-determination

in unity | we are stronger than enemies | we hold together

she believes in angels | that show themselves in many | forms of love

winter's day and sun | stands still waiting to reverse | in its celestial tracks

the place of lost voice | memories claw at her throat | tears form a knot there

ancient sea stars melt | into oceans on fire | we bury our heads

if we save the earth | we save ourselves and future | generations

I remember | my first love a smiling man | tender as a sapling

my love north wind | leans on me to show love | unruly and tussled

Butterfly Virgin | you patron saint of dreamers | who fly for freedom

US adores zombies | vampires their obsession too | those living dead

icy cold whispers | winter sweeps in through the house | on a sunny day

she dreams in all blues | frozen mid-sleep wishing | for early Spring

nights have grown endless | she only sleeps during days | napping at the edge

all mother's souls | melt into their children's  | growing into their own |
persons full and realized | pass love along in their blood

arctic cold fingers | grip the Bay in its grey fists | refuse to let go

a rock of a man | always loved more than hated | beacon for freedom

I give thanks for grief, which teaches me gratitude for life, and always for love...

the day born gray skies | sun elbowed its way out | smiling in triumph

grey fog stretches | arms around hills I live on | today sun sleeps in

petals fall to earth | they turn into fragrant clay | sweet-scented our cups

crows no longer caw | warnings about her at you | now that she's at peace

winter the inward | time of introspection | reflection on life’s pond

Copyright © 2013 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.