Mayan Poetry

Poetry by Humberto Ak'abal, a Guatemalan poet who wrote the following poem in Mayan in the 1950's:

Ri Kaj

We kateq’an puwi’jum ri’j k’isis
we katopan pa ri utza’m ri uq’ab
kawilo chi ri uwächulew
man naj tl k’o wi che ri kaj.
Pa chuwitz’ap
katkuwinik kachapo.

Yaj, xyajik
Ri ik’ are ri jun nimalaj ja
t’uyul puwi’ri uworachak ri juyub’

Are chi’ru nutat kinnuyajo
Ri we in kin’e pa ri ik’
Chila kinwar wi.

El cielo

Si te encaramás a un Viejo ciprés
y trepás por sus ramas,
verás que la tierra
no está lejos del cielo.
En Momostenango
podrás tocarlo.

Regaňo
La luna era una casa grande
sentada sobre el espinazo del cerro.

Cuando mi papá me reganaba,
yo me iba para la luna
Y alli dormía.

The sky

If you rise to the top of the old cypress
and climb onto its branches
you will see the Earth
It’s not so far from the sky.
In Momostenango
you can touch it.

Scolding
The moon was a big house
sitting on the spine of the hill.

When my father scolded me
I went to the moon
And slept there.