(Armorial Hanging from San Luis Potosí, México)
A steely celebration of weaponry, made soft by vines and flowers,
with eight birds, each on one foot, reaching for nectar.
This embroidered hanging in sepia is so large, it could fold
two of me inside it– but why do I want it to hold me?

There is a reason my mother taught me
to paint pictures with thread,
instead of decorating with spears or banners or cannons.

The natural dyes, the jaguar pelts, the misspellings in Spanish:
“SEYZO” instead of “SE HIZO,” and “SOIDEL” for “SOY DEL.”

I imagine the artists as indigenous dissenters,
infusing the tapestry with pink flora and fauna,
flipping the double-headed bird to the armory of “SN LVIS POTOSSI.”