The walk from the Bosque de Chapultepec to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia
In the Bosque de Chapultepec
From the Avenida Constituentes
Pausing at the entry gate, then
Walking a snake’s winding path, through
Foliage of acacia, pine, holm oak, cypress
Dense, fragrant, sweetness, lungs of the city
A light breeze cools the aromatic air
A Howler monkey heard in the distance
Whispers of Nahuatl amongst the trees
The castle on Grasshopper Hill
Haunt of many leaders; the Aztec aristocracy,
Lazaro Cardenas, Emperor Maximilian,
The elite, risen in glory, fallen into dust
Yet the forest lives on in a mighty breath
Light and shade envelopes us all,
Finally, the pace changes at the Museum
Treasures locked behind plate glass
Monumental ages seen in minutes
History is caught, dried, and preserved
The jigsaw fragments of the past
Coalesce into the jade mask of Pakal
K’inich Janaab Pakal, Ajaw of Palenque
Mayan Corn-Flower, shield, astronaut!
Continued living as a deified god
Yet the carefully constructed mask
Hides death entombed in a sarcophagus,
A rock slab engraved for all time
From his body a tree, double headed serpent
Along the white path of death
A map of the entire cosmos with
Ancestors reborn as trees
Hidden in the Temple of Inscriptions.
A single solitary butterfly in the courtyard
The soul of a loved-one
Pausing for a breath in the humid heat
A visitor from Heaven, for a moment.
All Rights Reserved / Copyright David John Drew, May 2025
Photo: National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Funerary mask of king Pakal of Palenque, by Wolfgang Sauber
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