A Killing, Corazon de Madera

 by Abigail Ardelle Zammit

Rio Negro, Armila

the medicine man said

awaken the wood with breath with fire

the spirit of the tree

dwells in each branch

but we heard a trickle in the foliage

gluttonous river

bearing traces of wave of tide

Rio Negro rooted in tree's trunk

ibe igua qirsu naba

naki naki asiswar

we grasped the machete

as if it were part of our longing

fearing caimans

nameless birds

dressed in night’s electric blue

he said never sever the trunk

so we chopped it down

tree had traces of mud

salt-soul from the Pacific

igua ila nispero naki

we grasped the machete

as if it were part of our longing

ibe ila ila

sobga asiswar

a clean unwavering cut

"Corazon de Madera” - literally meaning “the wood's heart,” which the natives would never remove.  Instead, they cut some of the branches of the oldest trees to keep the wood for its healing and spiritual power, praying over it to awaken it.  All italicized words refer to different types of trees in the Guna language, spoken amongst the indigenous Cunas of San Blas, Panama.