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The Peruvian Language

William Doreski

The planet has over-ripened,
and threatens to burst and spill
geologic seed in the vacuum.

The blush of unrequited day
fulfills my dream of learning
some lost Peruvian language,

a language of pointed mountains
and civilizations trampled
by hard little men sweating

in armor far too big for them.
I don’t refer to Aymara
or Quechua but rather speech

without sound, a silent homage
to heights and depths unsoiled by maps,
and lakes and salt flats and even

modern cities casting shadows
that sink into stone to linger.
I want to learn this unknown language

before I catch a plane to Lima,
where a mob will overthrow me
before I speak a single word.

Later, walking slowly and even
more slowly up the stilted trail
to Machu Picchu, I’ll hear

ghostly whispers that don’t exist
but which carry grave abstractions
vital to my mental hygiene.

Still later, in a Cusco sidewalk
café, I’ll eavesdrop on people
perplexed by each other’s syntax.

Toughened by mountain exercise,
I’ll be able to parse the real
Peruvian from the excess.

When I return to the hotel,
I’ll be dragging an authentic
shadow tough enough to anchor me

to some portion of the planet
that will survive the explosion
and enjoy the laugh that follows.

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