If a
looking
glass could
mirror this
morning it
would be
Cocibolca
sweet sea
east of Granada—
and today windless, still, and placid.
Brought low by drought, it drank
a seasonful of rain
and once again is fat
and sleek as an owl in
a hundred shades of gray.
Across to the other shore
stared back the mountains of Boaco and
Chontales.
Above, His Royal Highness Sky and below
and at his feet,
loyal servitor seconding every glance,
the Mirror-Bearer Lake.
E. A. Costa
El Portador del Espejo
Si un
espejo
pudiera
reflejar esta
mañana él
sería Coci-
bolca, mar
dulce al
este de Granada--
y hoy sin viento, inmóvil,
y plácido.
Caído bajo por la sequía,
ha bebido una temporada
de lluvia y de nuevo es
gordo y luminoso como
un buho de cien matices
de color gris. Sobre el
lago a otra orilla se
quedan mirando las montañas de
Boaco y Chontales. Arriba
estaban Su Alteza Real El Cielo y
abajo a sus pies el servidor leal que
secunda cada mirada
lanzada, el Portador del Espejo El Lago.
Tr. EAC
E. A. Costa November 5, 2016 Granada, Nicaragua
_____________________________________________________________
N.B.: (1) Cocibolca is the
local name for Lake Nicaragua, also known as Lake Granada, meaning in Nahuatl, “the
sweet sea” (el mar dulce) where the “sweet” denotes fresh water
as opposed to salt. (2) The Mirror-Bearer is the Mayan factotum that
carried a mirror for the Prince or King to gaze into. Often a dwarf
or a small carved figure, as here:
from a Wall Street Journal Article available here:
Mirrors, of metal, ore, polished obsidian and such are a distinctive
and transcultural artifact of Meso-American cultures. Though
probably used at times for cosmetics, the principal use for mirrors
was religious and spiritual and was shared by many of the tribes in
the area, including both Aztecs and Mayas, from Mexico in the North
to Guatemala and further south where Maya also reached. The mirror
was considered a channel to a spiritual realm that could not
otherwise be seen, and perhaps also with properties of an amulet.
Warriors, for example, wore mirrors on the small of the back.
Mirrors were also identified with water and with the sun. In many
carvings eyes are inset mirrors as are pools of water. A rare
surviving wood carving of a Mayan Mirror-Bearer is available here:
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