Tzintsunsan

the Aztec village of Tzintsunsan
sits on the edge of a lake
where time slows
to an afternoon hum
as the colorful vibrations
of hummingbirds
throughout history
sing out vividly
of men fishing
in wooden boats
for food,
murderous conquest
by foreign marauders
and beautiful babies
born of brown Indian
mothers, swaddled
in straw,
asleep on small beds
made from dried reeds
grown in mud
underneath
the living
water.