Granddaughter of Spirals
Mother of Rattlesnake
Wife of Chac of Cenote
to you belonged proudly displayed racks of skulls
to you were dripping hearts piled in heaps.
Then came La Conquista and demon became your name.
Now 500 years have passed. And worse has come.
Now you are a tourist gimcrack.
Your ultimate dishonor is being called
Pretty.

[Joyce Frohn has been published in ClarkesWorld, Writer’s Digest and Tales of the Unanticipated. She is married with a seven-year-old daughter. She has been a professional writer for years, but feels she is still learning.]