The Zócalo

This morning I’ve seen an Imperial Spain
that Philip II neither knew nor imagined.

Hernán Cortés knew he was founding in Tenochtitlán
the New Spain, the only heir
to Isabel and Ferdinand.

Immortal and corrupt Spain is alive in Mexico
and the Zócalo is its mirror and memory.

Stop here
and see how the will of one man
was able to weave a dream that others today
are tearing up in his own land.

Look at the mass of the cathedral,
look at the spreading plaza
the sumptuous palace
and the splendid pawn shop.

Before you go, observe the signs of the time.

Some men are plying, beside the cathedral
the most ancient and durable trades:

locksmith, plumber, cobbler, welder, fortune-teller…
reassuring the man from Extremadura
that his work has not been erased.

Traslated from Spanish by Rowena Hill