by Celeste Caesora Gzollnic
Transcript of “Palimpsests”
Introduction
Names: Among the Cakchiquels, each person bore two names; the individual the family or chinamitl. This word is pure a place enclosed by a fence, firstborn Iximcheʹ as maiz, as tree secondborn Chʹumil as star by the hold or family one lineage bearing one name, one grows outside by body, one within descended from one ancestral household. earth derived aca, related or affined; sky destined “President-elect has vowed to deport millions of undocumented residents, even claiming he would use the National Guard and military resources to assist in a mass deportation program.”
Each chinamitl was presided over by a recognized leader, as we draft our family preparedness plan ahꜯalam, “the keeper of the tablets,” gather documents rehearse genealogy of our family rights duties of members inscribed.
alert emergency contacts still daring to seed suns ‘within its territorial jurisdiction. It shall be lawful, at the time and as a part of the naturalization of any alien, for the court, in its discretion, upon the petition of such alien, to make a decree changing the name of said alien, and his certificate of naturalization shall be issued to him in accordance therewith.’ each head at night’s rest, a blessing. each morning goodbye, tenuous risk.
“Experts have stated that the proposed deportation plan could cost anywhere from ten to hundreds of billions of dollars and would affect one in every three families across the U.S.” how my son greets my half-moon womb each day with a kiss says “tz’ub.” how only family entwines borders.
“2-Year-Old Migrant Girl Arrives at U.S. Border Looking for Her Parents, Authorities Say” understand this recognize the fact that many Cakchiquel are ‘in behalf of a’ actual ‘child as defined in section 101(b)(1) (E) or (F) unless necessary to prevent the separation of brothers and sisters and’ of words our palms to our chests “holding a small yellow piece of paper, which had a name and phone number on it” writings, we constant find the “uncertainty regarding the future” then each other’s repeating you, me epithets. mine, yours “shared the same day . . . dozens of underage minors, many shivering in light . . . stating their ages and countries of origin.” This must not be confounded with an error occurring repeatedly ‘if necessary to prevent the separation of the child from the accompanying parent or parents, and if the foreign state to which such state from that of his accompanying spouse, the foreign state to which such alien is chargeable may, if necessary to prevent the separation of husband and wife, be determined by the foreign state.
‘(9) A spouse or child as defined in section 101(b)(1) (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) shall, if not otherwise entitled to an immigrant status and the immediate issuance of a visa or to conditional entry under paragraphs (1) through (8), be entitled to the same status, and the same order of consideration provided in subsection (b), if accompanying, or following to join, his spouse or parent.’ the text, expressing desire to teach my child—personal life pronouns offer difficulty to the translator, because we have no corresponding expressions in European tongues; while to retain them renders it less intelligible, and repulsive without becoming to give these terms an English rendering reflexive in the present I submit them to critical examination.
lost he does not understand possession—we are impossible to separate the spines of the gourd tree and maguey, and elsewhere refers to the sacrifice of. Word blood ꜯohb, some missionaries, claimed the root “administration . . . will revoke the temporary legal status of . . .” Human was “. . . more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela” by various historians. victim by fire, the word being ꜯatoh, to burn, as usual, captive, “warned to leave the country before their permits and deportation shield are cancelled.” prophetesses, eaten for their future success cutting in pieces the narrative “granted to nationals of designated countries facing unsafe conditions, such as armed conflict or environmental disasters.” The heart taken out, the four cardinal points as adoration the four winds, copal burned time, as incense.
grandmother wreathes a crown of paper stars worship the sacred dance, or, as the Spanish writers call it. The native name is xahoh, repeat for the birth: the legendary origin hermano mayor ‘In case the alien applying to be admitted to citizenship has borne any hereditary title, or has been of any of the orders of nobility in the kingdom or state from which he came, he shall, in addition to the above requisites, make an express renunciation of his title or order of nobility in the court to which his application is made, and his renunciation shall be recorded in the court.’
nobility of character and words cannot be revoked. wear your renunciation well.
“on foot and in boats” “skeletons grim landmarks for those who follow” “migrants have” constitute “disappeared after” its narratives. mentioned by missionaries “getting lost in the” of the Indians; it was impossible to do away with them altogether, contented selves with “American dream” “Seeking asylum in the U.S. through the southern border has been suspended under an executive order” name, ceremonies honor heathen calendar. ‘in the interest of the United States: Provided, that the term “refugees” as herein used means aliens who’ divination held place as numerous words testify. The form belief “to suspend asylum indefinitely is unprecedented . . . marks a break from U.S. past” from the Maya root na, meaning to use the senses. traced derivation and in connection the narrative repeated how deeply rooted the Cakchiquel ‘(A) because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion, fled from a nation or area of the Western Hemisphere; (B) cannot return thereto because of fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion; and (C) are in urgent need of assistance for the essentials of life;’ naval chec, naval abah, the spirit of the tree, of the stone, or divinity embodied in your first these substances.
Another root three-word sentences greet your tía y tío—was hal, to change. The power of by name metamorphosing whether into tigers, serpents, birds, globes of fire, claimed by stateside pending processing or by virtual communication texts. back home to your mother country power under to threat transform of hunger, violence, generational wounds of indigenous genocide, replications of colonization, sanctioned as ‘US intervention.’
“Migrants put in shackles for . . . deportation flights” ‘(e) As used in this section, the term “person” means the owner, master, agent, commanding officer, charterer, or consignee of any vessel or aircraft.’ ‘Aliens’ the word to divine the future “their hands bound in front of them . . . being led to the cargo bay of a C-17 military plane as men in military fatigues” in order to decide whether they should make war “watch on”
These auguries from flight of birds unafraid to fly my son runs the breath from rubescent wet cheeks foretold wielding wings he swings the anointer of maize ‘(b) A special inquiry officer shall conduct proceedings under this section to determine the deportability of any alien, and shall administer oaths, present and receive evidence, interrogate, examine, and cross-examine the alien or witnesses,’ for life glides down slides hightails in to sand wild joy a flowing circlet or diadem ornamented with feathers, and carried in hand a solemn unbridled tongue, organ.
at home in bed custodian of sacred books, calendars and myths, lucky and unlucky days, omens and.
he shouts “manos, mama!” certain grabs life, mine in temples, jumps smiles in plaited strands “salta!” “higher; higher; higher!” “military deportation flights” divine “are averaging . . . $4,675 per person . . . in a country already grappling with inflation, economic uncertainty, and a growing deficit” original documents.
‘(c) No vessel or aircraft shall be granted clearance papers pending determination of the question of liability to the payment of any fine under this section, or while the fines remain unpaid, nor shall such fines be remitted or refunded; but clearance may be granted prior to the determination of such question upon the deposit of a sum sufficient to cover such fines or of a bond with sufficient surety to secure the payment thereof, approved by the collector of customs.’
dialect. The body interred, “‘A human rights disaster’: immigrants sent into Guantánamo black hole despite no proof of crime” gives “the secretive” account, “immigrant detention facility . . .” of stone or soil, called “does not appear in public” “government” human “reports, and details have . . . surfaced, . . .” which is denied among the “. . . about alarming conditions.” ceased land of souls, burned charcoal buried as article our son has not yet learned to cease the somnambulant urge to lift legs through the bars of his crib howling awake, immobilized he hyperventilates as we The funeral ceremonies, coax them free with song and oiled palms Language. The Cakchiquel tongue was reduced to writing by the Spanish missionaries, and therefore, in this work, as in all the MSS, the following letters are used but still he knows how to climb over its wall.
The following are not employed:
‘enactment of this Act, the heads of the appropriate agencies shall prescribe regulations to implement the obligations of the United States under Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against’
The following are introduced, but with sounds and run always a rough breathing forcible ‘Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, subject to any reservations, understandings, declarations, and provisos contained in the United States Senate resolution of ratification of the Convention.’ separated by a pause following vow
lustrated value of letters, by English where terminates and begins the next, “signed an executive order” thus, ‘Sec. 8. That no alien shall hereafter be naturalized or admitted as a citizen of the United States who can not speak the English language:’ etc.
There appear other “cut” letters in old dialects, as in we find the Maya, but later writers “designating English as the official language of the U.S.” dispense language, having treated that subject so in the introduction to Grammar then translated and edited for American Society. As will be “the first such designation in the country’s history.” Examined dictionaries comprehensive; manuscript copies all in the United States. None of these, however,
- I can read and understand English, and I have read and understand every question and instruction on this petition and my answer to every question.
the first to see the light.
The Maya superior by the refrigerator an index literary card pinned beneath testimony rainbow alphabet magnets documenting his first words until the Cakchiquel dethrones the spanish then english.
*Sources include erasure of Annals of the Cakchiquels by Francisco Diáz Gebuto Quej and Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá, collaged with palimpsests of recent articles demonstrating the current administration’s immigration policy and rhetoric, publicly available immigration laws, and finally, my own poems.
**Key for transcript: The plain body text is an erasure poem of Annals of the Cakchiquels. Recent articles and immigration policies are indicated with two quotation marks and one quotation mark, respectively. Celeste’s original poems are underlined.
Celeste Caesora Gzollnic is a writer, editor, and educator who believes in language, liberation, sovereignty of body, and freedom of movement. Find me @celestecaesura.bsky.social