A Star Map for Survival When the Sun Fades

2022
Jessica Lopez Lyman

Dedicated to Carmyn and Emilio, Pandemic Babies

Papalotl, Obsidian, Alt
Butterfly, obsidian, water
These are the elements
That make you

Born in the time of fire
Of hurricane, school shooting,
Winter storm, ICE raids
Of Sun slowly fading

I held your small hands in isolation
Whispered blueprints for survival
Downloaded from blood memory

I. Four Directions
It’s easy to feel dizzy in the world
The earth is shifting
The oceans are rising
Within you a compass was born

Start by laying down the rebozo
The one that held my hips
As I waddled with you inside me
Around the lakes
The one we swaddled you in
When you let out your first cry
Where you were carried
Before you learned to walk

Spread it out on the land
This is your foundation
Take the roses and the white yarrow,
Tlaquequetzal, grounded feather
The yellow black-eyed Susans and the purple irises
Each of them have a direction

Lite the copal 500 year old tree sap
Place it in the center
After you let the smoke envelope your body

This is the altar you prepare for her to emerge

Take a breath and look up
Coyolxauhqui, la luna
Once broken pieces
Mangled, disheveled, torn apart
She has found a way to put herself
Back together again

And so will you

Let the constellations form
Pathways for your journey
As those around you spin uprooted

II. Harvest
The smallest seed in your palm
Is like the smallest cell in your body
They both remember the old ways
Intrinsically multiplying themselves
Reaching toward the sky’s majestic brilliance

You know where to sow the seeds
When you feel a pull on your omligo
A small red thread
Twisted chord that grew from the placenta
As the tree of life shaded you while you swam

Run your fingers through the dirt
In shallow rows the depth of your thumb
What we burry too deep
Doesn’t grow
Plant the three sisters
Corn, squash, and beans

Sing to them as I sang to you
If you needed me I would run to you
I would swim the sea for to ease your pain

III. Home
The villages have all burned
Along with the books
But there is still
Sanctuary in shelter

Under the freeways
In between cul-de-sacs
Or lined along the railroad tracks

There are people that remember
How to prepare a meal

To give of the harvest
As one gives of the soul

Build these spaces
To gather around tables
Sipping yerba of nettle, canela y miel
Make the mundane task
Into the ritual of every day sacredness

If you are forced to migrate
Be it by the government or the climate
Take with you each other
For nothing is more precious

IV. Water
When all is lost
Head towards the waters
This is where you began
And where you will end

By now they will have tried to
Capture the rivers
Caged in the ocean
With border fences
But even if you are not
Afforded entry to the beaches
Or able to set your feet
In the headwaters now all dried up

Once again look up
La Lluvia will come
As she always does
And they haven’t discovered how to
Tax the sky yet

Gather the droplets
In ceramic bowls
Bundle cedar or rosemary
Slap away the susto

After the limpia
Wash your face
Let the wind dry the salt
Crusted under your eye lids

Remember
Papalotl, Obsidian, Alt
Butterfly, obsidian, water
These are the elements
That make you