8th Century, Mayan
You’re supposed to say shoke but I like shock.
Lady Shock.
Who drew a spiked rope through her
offering tongue to
burn blood
into the threads of bark paper, coaxa smoke―
so she could froth up
the Vision Snake…Mouths.
In this particular designthe Snake has two. The lower
disgorges a warrior-god and the upper the ancestral
general-king―Two mouths: you’d think,
two opposite positions. You’d think she faceda breaking choice:
Do/Don’t
Kill/Save―
For wisdom she went to a fanged mouth,
Lady Shock.So she could answer
a trick question: man or godof war―
I like
how honest they were, the oldtribes.
Look how she kneels
in tranced adoration, the long spear pointedat her brow.
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