Butcher Shop

FESTIVAL OF IZCALLI OR EIGHTEENTH MONTH

And they fastened the men with a rope
Around the waist, and (gards) held them tightly
with it when they (went forth to) urinate.
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún

He will be sacrificed, the captive,
Like this, in the following manner:
first, the hairs are pulled from his head,
only from the crown, not the others.

The tufts are collected in boxes,
for they are the mementos of this day.
Then he is taken to the temple,
because he will be the festival offering.

Sometimes they don’t want to, they go weeping,
and it’s as if they fall along the way.
If they don’t want to go up, they are forced

by their hair. In this way, they are dragged,
though it’s hard work. It’s infuriating,
but with all the festivities, later you forget.

BUTCHER SHOP

The exposed meat bleeds among the flies
inside the cases.

The pigs present countenances
astounded to the point of fear.

And their eyes are hard on the eye.
I come into the odors saturated

and hold my money out to the man with the knife.
His fingernails give me back three damp coins.

I take home a head to reconstruct
an ear, a snout, a smile.

Posted: April 8, 2012 at 9:37 pm