Chayna purisqaypim
saykusqa…
Qunqaymanta
sapallay kasqayta unanchakuykuni.
Llaqtaymanta sapay
aylluymanta sapay
mama simiymanta sapallay.
“Pachaqa awqamanmi tikrakunman
sichus llapa ima riqsisqanchik
chinkaptin” ukuypaq nini.
Hinaptin huk llampu sunqu
quñi pukruchuta qawaykachiwan…
Chaypis ñakayniyta samaykachiyman.
Huk llaqtaman mitmayqa,
huk simiman hapipakuspa
yapamanta paqarispa rimay qallaykuymi.
Chaynaspapas, astawan mama simiman
astawan ayllu llaqtaman sunquchakuymi.
“Yuyayniy tuta utiruptin
qam kasqaytahina
ñuqa kasqaykitahina
rikchapakuwan.”
Hinaptin makiykiwan haywakuni.
Hinaptin makillaywan chaskikunki.
Huk llakilla, huk pinqaylla, huk runalla.
Chaypis takiyman wischukuykunchik:
“Vidallay vida
suertellay suerte…
Kristal vasuchahina
chullalla vida…
Kristal vasuchahina
chullalla suerte…”
You see nothing more than two-hundred animals,
identical.
Yet I can recognize each by her laughter.
And yes of course they laugh.
They intertwine their necks with the wind and they dance.
In the desolate, forbidding mountains
on the dark and silent paths
daily we walk together
sometimes they, sometimes I,
lead the march.
Like Bach’s sorrowful hymns
they dissipate…
Sometimes swiftly, sometimes placidly
until upon us, the night descends.
And when the appointed day arrives
to Mother Earth I shall express my gratitude
to my dear animal, my appreciation,
and I will slaughter her.
I won’t waste a single drop of her blood…
Only we know of this exhortation
Only we know who we are
and although we shall cry knowing all of this, so shall we rejoice.
In the silent, distant meadows,
I am a herder.
Musuq Illa: Poética del harawi en runasimi (2000-2020) offers a detailed study of the panorama of contemporary poetry written in runasimi (Quechua) during the last two decades. The book explores various thematic, stylistic, and ideological currents of this poetry by drawing on the critical paths of Andean philosophical and aesthetic categories, as well as those of critical theories from other philosophical and literary traditions. Musuq Illa postulates that conversations between critical and aesthetic categories of multiple literary traditions can help us to decolonize knowledge and celebrate the importance of epistemologies and literary aesthetics of traditions historically muted by colonizing hegemonies. Thus, the book seeks to serve as a project of inter-knowledge inspired by Andean concepts such astinkuy and ch’iqchi — confluences that nurture one another, without ever completely mixing, so that the initial courses of their channels can still be discerned. The goal of Musuq Illa is to suggest some ñankuna paths to direct us towards dialogue, understanding, and knowledge of Quechua literature, in addition to continuing conversations with scholars, writers, and students of other literatures written in indigenous languages of Abya-Yala.
