Tangled forest has smothered the terraces,
Root heave and rain,
That once swathed the mountain side in
Dizzying geometry.
A labyrinth of steps and paths,
Crescent of terraces, row on row,
Plunging;
Interlacing channels and water race,
This terrace kingdom tamed the rock
And nurtured mountain-wealth.
By sweat and hoe ten thousand peasants
Served the elite above,
And the elite their gods,
In garden terrace, waterpools and
Sacrificial rocks.
An Andean marriage with man:
Vast, inconsequential dowry,
Soothed by the voice of the gods in the mountain
Deep below.
But powerless against disease and gun,
And the greater god that gave them guns,
The tryst was broken;
The kingdom fell.
