ancestry

I often wondered
if she felt
the threads of her culture
pulling her gently at times:
a tether's frayed lines
lovingly woven,
stories told
by grandchildren's children,
their origins cherished
yet long forgotten.

History books will depict the
dignity of the Mayans
and Toltecs,
civilization's climb
from bare land
to contemplative sky
that her skin and eyes
still tell wordlessly.
Would Ekahau1 still
recognize them, his children - here
their splashes of laughter
in bright new tongues
as she fashions artifacts
in their ancient bold patterns.   


© Jon Bohrn (2002) 

their origins cherished, yet long forgotten...
origins © 2003 Marko Tovarez

1Ekahau - god of travellers. Maya mythology.

People of the southernmost Mexican regions of Chiapas and neighboring Oaxaca are decendents of the Maya and Zapotecs. Over the centuries many have migrated to other parts of Mexico as well as the U.S., where, generations later, they are often unaware of their ancestry.  

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