Cock Crow

I will sing like a cock
the dazzling dawn of your eyes
the eyes of an animal of the Andes;
I will sing of that lama
envied by the angels
and protected by the Mother Goddess
who used it as
her favourite mount
because she loves
her children so
as long as they're good
like you, O Peruvian virgin,
daughter of the Incan Sun
who later became
a Mexican empress!


And like a captive eagle
I will fly around your body
green as the plumage of the Quetzal,
that bird in love with liberty
who never deserts
warriors
and flies so high
in the sky of Cholula,
above the Great pyramid
to the terraces of copal
in front of which unfolds
the Aztec tragedy of sacrifice
and the final downfall
under Spanish spears!


You ripple like a
sailing ship of araucaria,
bearing the homage of emeralds
and butterflies
to the lovers of the Earth,
to supermen as gentle
as Quetzals,
gentle as you,
O guardian shadow
with a woman's perfume!


And you ripple
like a hint of seagulls
by the ocean
or like an allusion
to ultramarine freedom
or lastly like
the painting of a kingdom
without frontiers
founded on the edge of the Pacific
under the fifty-four volcanoes
of the Andes
at the gates of Guayaquil!

FROM THE COLLECTION OF POEMS "HOMMAGE DE PAPILLONS"

PUBLISHED BY
EDITIONS ENCRES VIVES- COLOMIERS-FRANCE
APRIL 2004