La Matanza
One of the pieces I wrote during my writers residency with the Dominican Writers Association in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Vive una cultura (There lives a culture)
cercana a (close to)
la naturaliza (nature)
entre lluvia (between the rain)
y sequia (and drought)
las fases de la luna (the phases of the moon)
la época del huracán (hurricane seasons)
cercanía (closeness)
con la tierra (with the land)
y el agua (and water)
y las energías planetarias (and planetary energies)
energía femenina (feminine energy)
Yocahú
Bagua
Maorocoti
Atabey
Yermao
Guacar
Apito
Zuimaco
Madre del infinito (infinite mother)
útero-cueva celeste (celestial uterine cave)
entre bohio (between bohio)
y batey (and batey)
arcilla (clay)
casave (cassava)
algodón (cotton)
conuco (garden)
cohoba (ritual)
el ‘indio’ y sus visiones (the ‘indian’ and their visions)
de cielos azules (of blue skies)
con una profundidad (with a profound)
distincta (distinction)
Nonun
Yaya
Coabey
origen guardado (source saved)
por dentro de los zemíes (inside of the zemis)
camaradas e (comrades and)
anfitriones de historia (keepers of history)
copal
añil (indigo)
bixa
huesos (bones)
la matanza*1
areito
una mesa llena (a full table)
en el atardecer (at dusk)
alegría sin fin (joy without end)
(La sangre (The blood)
se pego (stuck)
entre las raíces) (between the roots)
profundas (deep)
escondidas (hidden)
en el sonido del mar (within the sound of the sea)
el olor de la tierra (the smell of the soil)
los ojos de los búhos y buitres (the eyes of the owls and vultures)
equilibrio (equilibrium)
isla viviente (island, alive)
infinita (infinite)
un lugar sagrado (a sacred place)
e interdependiente (interdependent)
ni metal (not metal)
ni la cuerda (nor rope)
ni las piedras (nor the rocks)
pulimentadas (polished)
ni la arena misma lo (not even the sand can)
puede olvidarlo todo**2 (forget everything)
los llantos (the cries)
y las llamas (and the flames)
resonante (ringing)
en el recuerdo de (in the memory of)
una concha marina (a seashell).
In July 1503 near present-day Léogane, Nicolás de Ovando betrayed the local natives of Xaragua during an areito. Cacica Anacaona and her fellow caciques were accused of trying to start a rebellion against the Spanish colonists. Her people were killed, 80 of her noble caciques were burned alive in their batey, and Anacaona herself was captured and sentenced to death by hanging. Note that there are different accounts and depictions of this event.
I wrote this in July 2026 after being enraged by the commissioned statue of Anacaona in Parque Colón, on my first day back to the island in 13 years. Picture below for reference. What do you notice?
Incredible hermanx 💓🕯 It feels like listening to waves