Mexico's Head
In Mexico City, history is decapitated: two distinct periods, then and now, proceed in parallel, concurrently, and unbeknownst to each other. The times exist in different realms - unchained and aloof like boats freed from their moors- and refuse the cries of causation. Imagine: A head floats from its body and from a height, the limp pile of bones and blood appears alien and crude. Up to the heavens it dances unheld into the light sky.
And they never met again.
On November 8th 1519, after nine arduous months from Veracruz, the Castilians, led by the incorrigible Hernan Cortes, encountered Tenochtitlan, the great island capital of the Mixteca Empire. A series of interlocking causeways connected the metropolis, giving fine views: stone palaces rose from the water’s depths, manic markets traded in stones and sisal, wonderful birds of rainbow plumage floated above, fires licked cedar branches sending sweet smells.
