Descending in the semidark
leaving the heat
the brilliant sunshine
monkeys howling
through the forest canopy
stepping gingerly
down the long passage
to arrive
in that small chamber
dimly lit with its sarcophagus
of heavy stone
where once a Mayan king
had been laid out
in state and carefully
prepared to undertake the journey
to Xibalba

I stood a moment by the empty tomb
then climbed the many steps
back to the daylight world
and tired from a week of travels
and the heat
sat down to rest
on a stone bench beside
the ruins of an ancient temple

All at once
I was a Mayan priest
holding a bowl
to catch the blood that spouted
from the heart I'd plucked
out of a human sacrifice
blood that I knew was needed
for the world's renewal
for life and for the blessing
of the gods

Waking from my trance
I felt a wave
rush up my spine
as if to reaffirm
the truth of what I'd seen
what I'd been shown
a former life
or perhaps simply
another possibility
either way I left those ruins
knowing something I'd not known
before nor would have guessed
about myself
about the mystery
the power residing
even after centuries
in the Mayan earth
at Palenque