To the Girl with the Marimba Heart

Golden dove with pomegranate blood,
golden bridge with a vermillion river,
double feast for my eyes!


Girl with the marimba heart,
with blue peacock blood,
O solitary salvation of my soul!


Girl of the stellar dance,
with the hair of a Quetzal,
with the body of a jaguar,
with the breasts of a female puma,
with hips of green
feathers like a Guatemalan parrot!


O Goddess with a copal heart,
with hair black as the standard
raised by the army
of the emperor of the world,
with nails like a glow worm,
with toes like departing stars,
with a dress of golden feathers,
with pupils of slate,
the whites of your eyes are
like a white ear of corn,
your eyebrows like dark butterflies,
your lashes like the cocoons of silkworms,
your face like solar fire,
your ears like heron's wings,
your cheeks like ocean spray
bloody with dawn,
your chin is green as lakeside foam,
your nose is jade,
O Naked Goddess
of my spirit,
be the mark
I leave on this earth!

FROM THE COLLECTION OF POEMS "SANG DE PIERRE"

PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED