Burst Open, Escaping

The twenty-second cuicatl in Songs of the Lords of Anahuac, my English translation of the codex Romances de los señores de la Nueva España.

Your flowers burst open, escaping,¹
their petals unfolding like jades.
In our hands lie
precious tobacco blooms—²
our final shroud,³ you princes.
Only upon this Earth
do we exchange them.⁴

May popcorn blossoms,
may funeral tree flowers
be blended together.⁵
In our hands lie…