On Thursday April 24, I had the pleasure of attending El Retorno: Celebrando a Nuestra Gloria, a yearly event honoring the work and ideas of Gloria Anzaldúa. During the celebration I began mentally composing a brief elegy in Nahuatl in honor of her important work. Here it is, with a translation.
tonihtauhca nepantlah
nicān in nepantlahtli
in tlāltzontli ānepantlah
īnepantlah in tlālticpac
huel īyōllo in ilhuicatl
nepanotl titotlahpaloah
iccemmaniyān.
Our Glory in the Middle (or Our Gloria, in Nepantla)
here in this middle place
this border in the water’s midst
in the center of the earth
at the very heart of heaven
we embrace one another
forever.