I will unbind the soul of the dead to rise from the grave And speak to the hearts of the living, of ancient crimes.

Betrayed — rise among me, scattered hearts and lungs, Come about me and embolden me with breath, Speak from me, take my mouth and eyes You, Remembered.

Redeemed, the dead shall acquire spiritual name. In a mass, No longer graven, no longer silenced by the storm of the brutality of time. Let this world give you words; take my tongue, my lips, my breath.

Your life is not stolen — it lives forward and lives hence. Remembered in desert graves: Remembered in valley tombs marked with sticks, Burned in the heat of war — effervescent in unity; in the moment of life.

I fear not, nor anguish. I understand this rite at hand. This — the art of time. The roots; this well that speaks between us. This life in hand and graven electricity, which passes between us Unto the windswept grounds of the dawn of time.

Clouds have circulated; moony nights have passed; The sun has toyed with the earth’s axis. I perceive the great breath that you have taken, The first breath of the tenement prayer; the labor of the mud hut; The skinning of the jaguar Which now passes through me.

That we are one, gather among me. Borrow my limbs, as they are yours. Borrow my eyes, as they are yours. Show me the path, the way, and the light to your tomb. This world is temporary. Your gaze — Shows me the moment behind the veil; the tear and tatter of our ancient mortal wound. I feel your passion, breathing, heaving In mine own lungs.

Gaze — spirit! Gaze aloud at this world that has wind swept up in a great fury. Children who have passed from this veil. Mothers: Veiled with the glassy eye.

I sit at the stone tomb at dawn; gaze with eyes shut. Breathe into me; know me, first world. Children before words. Children before eyes. You who saw the flying of time; The screaming of bombs. The shoveling of black, heaving dirt. The heavy weight of stone.

Spirit — let them speak! Let these crimes be known. Give them air and light. Redeem the dead. Redeem them through me.

I hold your heart with love. Your passion, your grief. Come unto me; come near. Let us together return what has been taken, What has been stolen from you.