You returned from Peru
\nwhere the air is thin,
\nand the light a rinsed yellow
\nof glacial sun.
\nA country where breathing
\nis an occupation.
\nWhere the sea puts no claim
\nto the bitter rocks of Inca destiny.
\nBeyond her cities
\na black wall of history
\nseparates her adobe houses.
\nThe angular face of the Inca
\npeers out with the shadows
\nof the Spanish conquistador
\nand missionary.<\/p>\n
You must be strong
\nto go to Peru.
\nCover your tender flesh,
\nand look aside from the brutality
\nof roots that refuse to come down
\nfrom the high ravines
\nand dusty roads.
\nThe snakes and pumas
\nof the lowlands,
\nstay from those peaks.<\/p>\n
Machu Picchu suffers in its blanket
\nof drought and frost.
\nIt should frighten such tender buds
\nas we.
\nHow did the Incas
\nlive hand in hand with the terrible gods
\nwho asked for their suffering
\nand sacrifice to the sun?
\nAnd refuse to descend
\nto the immaculate conception
\nof Christ,
\nprotected in the grottos of Mary.
\nWorlds separated by creation.
\nThe cold world of the Andes,
\nand the passion of our redeemer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You returned from Peru where the air is thin, and the light a rinsed yellow of glacial sun. A country where breathing is an occupation.…<\/p>\n