the Gates of the City

by Yana Lucila Lema (Ecuador : Kichwa)
translated by Margaret Randall

there go the uncontrollable
the rebels
the ones they call violent
when they want to devour our roots
our language
our blood

but what isn’t said today we will say
as prelude to rising up
if the blood we shed is from hunger
for the vacant eyes of women and men

look for us then behind the mountains
in the stars that glitter on the rivers’ waters
or on the cement streets built with our hands

the small birds call us with their song
and that song becomes an eternal shout
eternally at the city gates