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
precious tobacco blooms —
our final shroud, you princes.
Only upon this Earth
do we exchange them.

I come full of compassion,
— it is I, Tizahuahtzin.⁶
Where are we bound?
His home.⁷
No more coming back.
No more returning.
Forever we depart,
yonder do we go.

May these flowers and songs
be borne away to his home.
May I be shrouded with them —
gilded frangipanis,
precious popcorn buds
that lie in our hands.
No more returning.
Forever we depart,
yonder do we go.