Quechua Diaspora

Herder (Michiq)

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.

Ch’awiyuyu mama

Mayu patapi
q’illu t’ikaq yuyucha,
inti taytaq k’anchaykusqan,
killa mamaq llanthuykusqan.

Munay munay wiñaqcha
phuyuq hump’inwan ch’aqchuykusqa,
hallp’aq sunqunmanta phuturimuq,
ch’awiyuyucha wata ch’uñu mama.

Manaña imaypas kaqtinqa,
sulla samaychaykiwan,
wawachaykunaq uyachanta
uphaykuspa, much’aykuspa,
watan watan mana tukukuspa
yuraq waqtanchaykita mikhukuyku,
yana inqichaykuman hunt’achikuyku
kusisqa inqipas t’iqi t’iqicha
phullakuyku.

Ch’awiyuyu mamacha,
inti taytaq k’anchaykusqan,
killa mamaq llanthuykusqan,
q’illu sumbriru t’ikacha,
q’umir pullera ch’awicha.

Yanayña urpiyña wikch’uwaqtinpas,
uyachaykita qhawa-qhawayukuspa,
inqipas t’iqi t’iqichataraq,
kushkalla kawsakushansunchis.