Today we tread on sacred ground.
Where Mayan nobility built temples.
Homes, once painted in reds, blues, now white.
From wear, tear of hurricanes, salt air, sun.
Where they docked their commercial boats.
Trading salt, honey, cacao, jade.
Where they made paper.
From the bark of Moreton Bay Figs.
Processed it with lime water.
Where they wrote books.
With an alphabet they developed.
On religion, astronomy, mathematics.
Devised a calendar.
Erected buildings without metal implements.
What made these people so smart?
Resilient?
Enduring?
Their understanding of cyclicity?
Predictability of equinoxes?
Seasons?
So they could plant crops, thrive.
Preserve food.
Use engineering skills to build.
Decorate structures with plant based hues.
What caused their demise?
Warfare between city states?
Deforestation?
Droughts?
Maybe a combination.
Now hundreds of years later, leaving us to ponder.
The legacy they gave.
How they lived and prayed.
Survived so long unfrayed.
In the end, betrayed.
Lynn Benjamin
February 22, 2024
The sacred ground we visited was in Tulum.
