Anaba and the Quetzal

“sinaháse nagée nagée alíli kat
bïtása/ a’yeyeyeyahai`” Navajo
protection song.

At the other border crossing I shall
be stopped and so shall we all. “Now, slayer
of the alien gods am I.” Quetzal
sits in my left hand. The jaguar’s furor
stretches far flung over us. “Now among
alien gods with weapons of magic
am I.” Now all the jaguar’s furor, flung
far out, am I. Now the quetzal, homesick
and blue, am I. At the other border I
shall be stopped by alien gods, foolish
in all that they do and try to condemn.
We all cross, one way or anther, why
make this hard? I pray: go in peace: the wish
I give your gods before I destroy them.