José Hernández Díaz

This Serpent Tongue Cannot Be Colonized*

Cuauhtémoc,
No llores...

Tomorrow,
With the coming
Of the Sixth Sun

I yearn to
Speak the
Silent language
Of sun-burnt peasants

With a vibrant accent,
Colorful with
The weight
Of ancient myth:

... Tlatlauhtilia,
Cuauhtemoctzin,
Amo ancoconetzitzintl ...

José Hernández Díaz has been published in The Best American Nonrequired Reading Anthology 2011, Bombay Gin Literary Journal, and La Gente Newsmagazine of UCLA, among others. He is also an active moderator of the group, Poets Responding to SB1070. The author gratefully acknowledges the Xicano poet, Francisco X. Alarcon, for his assistance in the Nahuatl translation.