Achcauhtli

Pat Gaines/Flickr Creative Commons

dedicated to the Cēmānāhuac Poet Laureate Francisco X. Alarcón

You, King of Hummingbirds

of Monarch butterflies

of bluest gulf waters

whose waves rise the height of skyskrapers

to kiss winking stars

in overcast skies

You, a lighthouse

that has always beckoned me

from that shadowy place

of deepest dark

of being lost in tumultuous waters

of self doubt and fear

You, who is always sure

of the magia

our ancestor’s tongues

the glyphs of invocation contained

in sounds of sunrise and sunset

their energy transferred to

our own words

to the sacred stones that sing

sealed by the feathers of mighty birds

or a simple snap of our fingers

You, man of heart and wisdom

there is no place you can go

that the wind does not whisper

your name

its secrets in your ear

the eternal spiral that links

your healing words

to our lips

that flower

in flor y canto

IN LAK'ECH - HALA K'IN

Copyright © December, 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.

Notes:

Achcauhtli: Leader

Cēmānāhuac: the name used by the Aztecs to refer to their world. It is a Nahuatl 
name derived from the words "cē" one/whole and "Ānāhuac", which in turn derives 
from the words "atl" (water) and "nahuac."

IN LAK'ECH - HALA K'IN: Mayan for ~ I am you, and you are me.

July Senryū 2015

for the sweet circle of life


calabash of life | whisper your secrets in breath | of birth and of death

Clover turns over | summersaults in her belly | she’s getting ready

your son grows tired | of you moving on | without saying goodbye

now you dwell mainly there | just one foot in this world | here people wait

she is in between | worlds that call to her to wait | the seen and unseen

be-at-ti-tude | supremely blessed is she | with every heart-beat

in complex shedding | of bird's finery we see | the simplicity

he won't let her go | no matter how hard she tries | to pull away

citrus and terracotta | jasmine stars explode | their scent's earth and sky

she is still here | sometimes she opens her eyes | as if she’s only slept |
not in that way when one’s self | travels to the unseen

the nature of things | being in the moment | a dance between raindrops

preparing to live | parents make nests for their egg | swollen with pride

moving through the aperture | of life and death | a love labor

union in sound | drum voices thunder singers | spiral in motion

pastel skies that pass | days fly by fast flapping wings | as time moves on

sensuous pieces | that fit together | an elaborate puzzle

an almost baby | sleeps dreams and swims inside her | she prays for the best |
all life has to offer | a blue child being born green

madrugada calls | sleep talk she thinks is a dream | it's him from afar

new moon intentions | a wish and invocation | your heart's desires

sun breaks through to find | brain fog that refuses to | burn off

baby overwhelm | a child trying to raise one | young woman alone

silly assumptions | about appearances | a game of all wrong

Clover dreams color | sees the world through mother’s eyes | visions the future

his mom's on her journey | he saw E on the corner | dressed in red and black |
sharp and dapper lookin' | all pied piperish | but he don't want her to go |
not even with E | who's showin' the road | no she was the first woman |
who ever loved him | though like BB say | she could be jivin' too

niño Fidencio | de agave espadín | medicina viva

the last was the first | on his mind he closed/opened | listened with his heart

watery spirit | now you see there now you don't | moving between worlds

a molehill sometimes | a mountain to be climbed | feelings magnified

another run | a chance at a different life | beginning again

Bree because you're free | you climb and tear down their hate | decry their limp rag |
symbol of supremacy | of cowards that have no hearts



Poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez. All Rights Reserved.

June Senryū 2015

for another summer of love


when the moon is full | then we will go fishing in | love’s silvery pond

spiral movement | on a long path from ego | to enlightenment

a sure kind of death | to bludgeon a child’s spirit | snuff out their light

helichrysum oil | for sealing new scars | a blessing on a cracked head

what is a wild woman | if not one who knows | her nature is free

in a dark forest | shadows sigh to light the night | fireflies glitter

summer lightening strike | thunder beings not talking | spark a wildfire

let's tear them all down | useless pieces of colored cloth | soiled in hate and fear

they cut down mountains | damn up clear flowing streams | poison all the air | we mourn the mounting deaths | pray for a better future

sharp shards of glass | shimmery in moon’s glimmer | alley diamonds

spirit of iron | divides a river in two | feeds on firewood | fights against injustices | protects with a blood oath

full moon seppuku | chance meet in a body jump | pot meets the kettle

soars over treetops | circles front of her window | waves her a blessing

she sleeps protected | with leaves of trees shading her | journeys in seconds

the whole world’s tilted | fate brought them together then | again they collide

grandmother runes speak | points of light illuminate | from sparkling star sand

sometimes you get it | right the first time | it defines your whole life |
gets you strength and independence | then you're alone for life

another day missing | you loving me | your voice saying it's alright

how can words describe | the deep in my chest | you who are the beat of me

she cannot just want | every one a destiny | what can not be had

the moon a sliver | lends its light to the stars | a moonlit slide

imminent storm | clouds gather to discuss it | sky waits expectant

she is whirlwind | stirs it up into the air | sees what will land standing

cracked her egg | they put her back together | humpty dumpty style

he her first and last | the kind of love that surpasses | all time and space

he stopped looking | when he found her there she was | for all the others

to free ourselves | our bond must be broken | to be forged in love

our long memories | a love so familiar | easy like summer

wobbly hatchlings | all wide eyed and hungry mouthed | lemon-yellow fuzz

let's gather ripening fruit | under the rose | our strawberry moon


poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

May Senryū 2015

for peace on this beautiful planet


relationships | we land on this blue planet | covered in sweet mother

always has new hats | always with the this and that | but can’t pay the rent

cooling heals the head | dreams a slash of blue lake | wakes up refreshed

with the sunrise | smile it's a new day | on the edge of yesterday

believes in future | wraps herself around the past | stays in the moment

how can one break | their own heart by being | in love with love

there would be blood | she always feared bullets | then a deafening quiet

so much love her heart | hurts as though compressed in his | fist clenched

partly disheveled | then skin muscle bone | but no sinew can hold them | no matter the pretty words | no matter night shivering

when those we love | disappear without a word | there's no explanation | then we blame ourselves for all | we might've done differently

complete sadness | is the passing of parents | to that other place | where we can only feel them | wish them light and progress

he wants to be sure | she knows who's the boss of whom | believes in free will

from this far away | I send you blessings and love | sana sana dear

a struggle for the land | a fight for our survival | earth must prevail

apart they do not shine | there is no fire | sometimes there's no hope

want to ring some necks | can't pinpoint exactly why | you got the feelin'

time for a chill pill | or a bottle of bourbon | she opts for yoga

ghost ranch belly dance | lay down color fields dry wheat | layers upon sound

iron eyes don't see | in their bellies carry us | feel their way down tracks

she must embrace it | Mercury's insistency | roll with the punches

if he were a bar | he'd be aqui me quedo | she would never leave

brown hands in red earth | a firm mother connection | one to another

everyday mothers | their days long for their children | even when they're grown ✿

winding roads take us | back to a past now future | of soul and spirit

you can love so much | where does all that love come from | a wish or prayer

a wee girl smiling | her entire life a dream | loved beyond belief | the way girls should be loved | by great mothers and fathers

imprecise magic | of defying gravity | no fear of falling

loneliness demon | hides in the blackout curtains | is uncertainty | let the light of this fine day | banish all the sad worry

pavement surfers | skateboarders soar like eagles | skilled to land on feet

full-flower moon | ready to bloom Spring showers | our mother of pearl

Black lives do matter | stop racial profiling | end all war for peace


Copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

photo Copyright © 2009 Derek Owens.
All Rights Reserved.

April Senryū 2015

for the promise of Spring

another Texas | morning that wakes in mystery | not knowing which way | the wind or politricks | will blow this bright - sunny day

salty ocean tears | her heart breaks so easily | never can she stop | loving those she was born to | their souls are braided to hers

what to do in answer | to the blind-eyed deaf mute world | for murdered children | ignored as disposables | who don't matter as much

on the far side in | familiar but divergent | time zone importance

she will always be | the love of his life | but not the life of his love | wanting other things | they went their separate ways

so far is too far | your voice over texts | a kind of torture

wildseeds sewn in wind | carries them off on wings | oh the things they bloom

a smile slice of moon | looks sad when you look at it | turned downward

she is the wind | belongs to herself no one else | she chooses freedom

the pacific light | illuminates pure darkness | poetry and love

she desires him | the way thirst wants water | a desert mirage

when we're older | no longer resemble | selves we see in the mirror

she hides everything | a long ago you can't hurt | steel can take its licks

her constant want | to live another fifty years | in his able arms | to feel his breath on her cheek | to listen to him sleep

yes she knows his soft | tender underbelly | a strong man always | intent on being aloof | never admitting he’s down

with his hands he can | soften her up like red clay | between his fingers

he didn’t comprehend | her wings were crushed so early | her only option was run | not into his arms gone far | distance

in her pie safe | she keeps secret recipes | to love herself

knows how she feels | even when months turned to years | it’s always been him

sometimes those who love | you must leave | you must find peace

calls him to her | alluring perfume | scent of a woman

what he did | didn’t replace those feelings | of love that won’t die

the long road to love | though detoured from the path | of a destiny

though often predictable | the future’s a puzzle | missing pieces

sends you peace | blessings and love | and prays for your ease

inward swan dive | her reach in line with her grasp | not still framed or frozen | she keeps moving to live | keeps living her dreams

they want us afraid | believing only their truths | telling only lies

sprouting grass moon | spring’s an eternal smile | when winter’s a memory

she always lives on | the sharp edge of desire | no fear of too much

even torn and ragged | lives can be darned into beauty | all lives matter

blocking the flow | don't want you but won't let you go | time to say so long


poems copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

March Senryū 2015

for belief in love even when it's imperfect 


old as mountains | their love across the ages | steady as beats of hearts

traveling with wings | fueled by waking-dream voices | on prayers and hope

sometimes dreams wiser | than waking up to the pain | of this everyday

seawater escapes | the beaches of her ocean | eyes and round her cheeks

blocking the flow | don't want you but won't let you go | time to say so long

ancient bones heavy | in the living my-story | that walk strong in him

the star he gave her | the fifth planet from the sun | brightest in the sky | left of the tympani moon | so she'll never forget him

she will never raise | theirs who was sacrificed | a story not hers | to fashion in this lifetime | spirit tossed back to heaven

imagine-nation | a world without war and hate | dream it so

the day she was born | they planted one hundred trees | to flower into love

she made him feel | crazy and tender in ways | he’d not felt ever

we all have vicious |  it can snap and hurt someone | a small part of us

she feels heavy weight | stuck in a sadness deep place | where slow magma seeps | fills up all vacant spaces | all the path with shouts and wails

people like to talk | her name tastes good on their lips | tongues sharp as razors

we bring our hearts' strings | and all the tenderest parts | to your feet to be blessed

days that mark the end | times we thought would never | may we remember | original instructions | given to our peoples

you go on dreaming | despite all obstacles | wake up to your truth

right at dawn | when the air smells newly born | women sing children awake

poets of heart | tell truths that are lies only to | dream a new future

she is but a dream | breezes through your life from time | and like Spring thunderstorms | on occasions upsets | best just embrace gifts given

drive by King's Ranch | reminds how much was taken | a world that belonged | to itself free and alive | before towns and cities cloned

flying I go | flying I return | for as long as there are wings ✿

darkmoon woman | gifts invisibility | to the shape shifters | who know that time is nearer | than anyone ever thought

when we least expect | there is a way that our hope | can move obstacles | our activism makes change | our love changes us for better

nine months while she gestated her | she ate sardines | wee one was born fish | daughter of deepest ocean | blue child come to change the world

she learned the seed songs | sang these life-vine prayers | we are green shoots born | connected to the mother | her brown hands deep in red earth

shadows rise up | they dance around at the sound | of your sweet sweet voice

cawing of crows moon | signals the end of winter | o'er snow covered nests

his thick skin on hers | as if they were one | as if it were yesterday |
to hold them together | forever in a life grip

waxy moon lost | in fog-out gray flannel night | for hibernation

you go back home | to that place that still holds you | in that red womb that birthed all | place of mesquite's outstretched arms | forever you blue bonnets

trees speak quietly | they channel loved ones voices | whispers in the breeze

poems © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

February Senryū 2015

for being able to not only see, but to believe in the truth

✿

she worries he’ll fly | so fast his wings won’t carry | the weight of the past | but one can only live | the life they are assigned

family blood ties | land wind and trees that witnessed | births of our ancestors | whose hearts are buried here | deep down in this rich brown earth

we write our lives | in lines across years | on paper we set our sails

they wake from flying | poems that come through day dreams | then birth themselves whole

there’s nothing sexy | about trains going off rails | but clouds making rain | is natural as babies | being born blessed this morning

earth’s survival | is not dependent on us | our survival

love is a whole world | immense feelings filled with hope | of tremendous joy

a bright bud | of a new Rose bloomed | born brilliant

the way they fit | pieces of this puzzle lost | fine tuned enigma | put back together again | if she’s wrong just let her go

today’s road is peace | birds soar in the vast sky | on path partying

these ashes cross me | symbol ofa life’s circle | ever returning

yo canto rio | tu estas dentro | del agua yo grito amor | te quiero mas qu’el agua | que corre por mis venas

aún te quiero | despues de todo amor | siempre es siempre

she wants only love | pure simple and willing love | not convenience

she’s always prepared | with contingency plans | to win or lose

there’s no Valentine | but my heart is secure | Love is everywhere

hormonal blues | the do’s and don’ts of aging | how old are you

tremendous joy | followed by hollow sadness | of life’s ups and downs

contemplating | Spring and cleaning out clutter | the consequences

she got tired of being | a poem on lips of people | who did not know her

what do trees tell me | about life they’ve lived so long | standing ones so wise

our grapes deep purple | staring out from the clear cup | warming up the dark

a day of new beginnings | hatched in candle light | as winter lingers

you are the poem | not the words that fly from her | a brilliant starlight

there’s never a way | to undo past mistakes | just forgive yourself

troubled turbulence | she’s humbled in its belly | iron bird travels

plump with promise | of healing inner demons | full moon rises proud

bone moon rising | while winter beats at the door | sip the marrow soup

poems and photo copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.

All Rights Reserved.

January Senryū 2015

for wings to fly above the bullshit  ✿⊱╮


she no longer knows | where she ends and he begins | it's a soul union

oh groove and rhythm | that marvelous soundtrack | of your crazy life

life is a dance | you can sit on the sidelines | get on up wallflowers

there's a difference | not forgetting or invoking | your name is not called | no summons to this hell | you left now rest in peace

we think the earth | a never ending resource | an oyster to scoop out

stuck with thinnest needles | to poke at what ails you | here's to our health

sometimes we just can't | there's no more of us to give | so we turn inward | take care of ourselves awhile | let other's figure it out

get out of your head | breathe into your navel | what does your gut say | what does your heart feel | forget the brain chatter

a beautiful remnant | a love lost | from a long ago past

your mind on deserts | on vast ancient ocean floors | where spirit waves flow

it's good medicine | half a forest in her cup | to heal winter ills

for all those who roam
those who have no home
even though there are plenty

for those who love the road
who are despised for this or
for being other

there are better days
for those who live free
stay brave within yourself

c/s


dirty laundry | should not be aired in public | wash your funk privately

she carries her own | heavy weight in a man’s world | takes care of business

honestly you were blind | now you see me | the one who’s no longer there

like beautiful flowers | we're born and don't understand | precious life is short

big wet kisses | from spirit-dog just passed | he's happy in his new home

flowers bloomed in snow | roots reached down into warm earth | delicate and strong

all souls are the same | no one's better than | the ones who we love

she races | erasure chases her | to overcome

ego knows no bounds | one must pull in on its reins | humble is better

what is in your heart | might not be what's on your mind | it's better to feel

to be held sure | where hearts do not doubt their love | to feel secure

when you thought you knew | who loved you and it turns out | it was never true

communication | breakdown no time for texting | find a real landline

when you begin to see | your faults as your own | instead of blame

full moon insomnia | full-wolf howling in the hills | chanting a story

when you’ve wished for | hurt and pain to disappear | stars to remind hearts | that without the bad no good | galaxies of joy to come

full-moon mood monsoon | a time to lie low | let it all go just relax

trees sang in their way | of silence is deafening | said don't ask believe



copyright © 2015 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.

December Senryū

For all the beauty that is this world
and all the joy and the anguish of being alive ~

✿⊱╮♥

store your hopes and dreams | shooting stars and giant redwoods |
in a bigger jar

tomorrow she's travelin' | to the trees to tell her | something 'bout next year | her heart hurts to see | images of relatives | unburied and frozen | spirits gone on home after | the merciless massacre

don't know how many | tears I can shed like this rain | that would be enough | to show you my sorrow | it will never be enough

I am my own tree | come from a tall and strong stand | not felled easily

billowy clouds | of corn masa mixed just right | grandmothers guiding |
first time hands spreading manna | from the heaven that formed us

she red dust in hand
blows it outward towards the sun
which refuses to shine
she a petite sorcerous
knows how to guide the wind

her heart fragile | because she despises hate | hurts for all humans

joy to the world | cease fire has come | all's quiet on the war front

from the darkness | a slight smile in the sky | she searches for the light

love has no color | but there's a kind of magic | we love who we love

what divides us | not just a stretch of blue | those 90 miles |
an abyss filled with stories | love and loss deep emotions

days get longer still | winter continues its dance | Spring's along way off

night throated train | singing down those cold tracks | reminds her she's alone

solstice longest night | days wax until they are long | again seasons change

a scratch the new moon | a slight shadow of itself | this winter solstice | as the year's shortest day | melts into the longest night

wind whipped mercilessly | with rain against windows | the people stayed home

she thinks of your lips | chafed from kissing her too much | makes her body blush

in amongst the trees | she hides secrets from prying | walls that have ears | like eyes that do not see | she's what they want her to be

river rushed in wide | races to reach overflow | its banks can not hold |
its force back to normal | after the bitter drought

abracadabra | my words have power | to create what I speak

wind is relentless | it speaks all through the night | tells of the coming |
solstice with its long night | while we rejoice the seasons

the storm's wet mouth | will not swallow us whole no | it brings relief |
from the dreaded drought that burns | that turns fields into dust storms

that young woman | in the photograph's a ghost | of who she once was | she is not her she's someone | whose lived many lives since then

she is in a dream | or just waking up from one | long ago one |
looks towards future sleepy eyed | in that instant a world changed

if it is wrong | for me to love you let me be | on the right path

the wind has claws and teeth |tries to shred up the roof | off of my house

let her love you | the way she wants to | with all her heart and soul

you wish that you'd met | again on this life's road | at least to say good-bye

we begin as seeds | sprout wild fly fast into being | unruffled our beauty | untangled innocence | mature into wisdom

full cold moon | your eye rimmedwith tears and shame | on what they have done

we witness | that without justice | there can be no peace
without justice | there can be no peace | no justice no peace
when we must raise our children | to be murdered anytime |
on these mean streets | by those whom we pay to protect us |
there is no justice | no justice
no peace


Copyright © 2014 Odilia Galván Rodríguez.
All Rights Reserved.