Puerto Rico in 1511
Alex Echevarria

Dear Sister,

Uncle is dead

When the chiefs called
I could not refuse my role
I came at once

Waling home late
I listened to a friend
Talk excitedly of the war
Of Cacique and Taino
Against Spanish Conquistador

But I was sad this morning

In a dream I saw a snake
Swallowing itself
What holds you up, sister?

I am ready to die
But I do not love death
It is the beauty I will miss
I am sick for home
All of those who died

The old spirits

Who faded in silence
Leave me in tears
Tell your husband sister

This will not last
Your marriage
Your new language
Your new people
Will never come
They will be madmen

The tree will turn
On its roots
I hate these pale men, sister

Happiness is but
An absence of fear
That springs from the blue
Green sea, costs nothing
It belongs to no one

Tell you husband, sister

There was no reason
To come as he came
On the sands, making corpses

In a sudden shower of terror
And now, I give the gift back, sister
I will spring from the boat
Unhappy until I find home again
I will step over his corpses

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