Song of Praise

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

For Axayacatl, King of Tenochtitlan¹; Nezahualpilli, of Tetzcoco²;
and Chimalpopoca, of Tlacopan³

The Flower Tree⁴
is twisting
is blossoming
in your home,
our lord and god.⁵

Myriad birds⁶ emerge
to sip from blooms
and trill their songs
in your home,
our lord and god.

The tolling
of jade bells
spreads throughout
your city,
our lord and god,
Giver of Life!⁷

Along with them chatter
Moctezuma oropendolas,⁸
mountain trogons,⁹
and roseate spoonbills.¹⁰
The princes keep flying
back and forth.

Perhaps we are here
but a moment.
Perhaps he savors it
when he creates someone,
our lord and god.

Like birds I disperse¹¹ them —
they crack like emeralds
and lie shattered in our hands,
these your spring flowers,
my lord Axayacatl.