The following collection of poems were inspired by the history and art of the Ancient Maya. The writing has involved many enjoyable hours of study and construction. Some of the poems are accompanied by photographs that I took at archaeological sites I’ve visited over the  years. The sentiment and the learning comes from direct experience beginning on a magical spring day in 2002 when I first encountered the immense and mysterious ruins of the Ancient Maya civilization at Chichen Itza in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and was completely awestruck. Since then I’ve visited many more ancient Maya archaeological sites and museums in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras; attended several classroom and field workshops led by leading experts in the field; and acquired a small library of academic works written by past and modern scholars of Ancient Maya archaeology, language and art. And I`ve written many poems.

I am fascinated by the artifacts, the written language, the bones and the crumbling architecture that can be studied by scientific method and are tantalizing clues to the intangible actualities of human existence, feeling and thought in an ancient world. In writing a poem I attempt to gracefully entwine subjective impressions and an intuitive sense of an object or scene with information gleaned from archaeological research reports. I write as a means of seeking the truth, not stating the truth. The poetic interpretations are presented in a non-assuming spirit and are open-ended. Reader feedback and comments are welcome.

The poet, Alison Hawthorne Deming, elaborates on the irreconcilable boundaries between science and poetry but sees there is also mutually beneficial zone where the poet’s subjective expression of the nature of things and the objective measurement and testing required by modern science to substantiate the nature of things, meet:

” Clearly a divide separates the disciplines of science and poetry. In many respects we cannot enter one another’s territory. The divide is as real as a rift separating tectonic plates or a border separating nations. But a border is both a zone of exclusion and a zone of contact where we can exchange some aspects of our differences, and, like neighboring tribes who exchange seashells and obsidian, obtain something that is lacking in our own locality.” (Alison Hawthorne Deming. creativenonfiction.org.,”Poetry and Science A View from the Divide”, Issue # 11, 1998)

Several of the poems in this collection were originally posted at the Aztlan discussion list at the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI). The opportunities to humbly present my original, albeit imperfect, compositions where they could be viewed by those who might appreciate their context and meaning has felt like an honor each time. Many of the posted poems have since been revised.  None have been submitted for formal publication elsewhere. This blog will be an ongoing leisure time project to compile past and future poetry in an orderly accessible collection.