The Exchange: Oaxaca, Mexico.

• Author: Murrey, Matthew
• Position: Poem - Brief Article - Poem

The Exchange: Oaxaca, Mexico ... they placed them on some rather narrow stones which had been prepared as places for sacrifice, and with stone knives they sawed open their chests and drew out their palpitating hearts ... --Bernal Diaz del Castillo The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico It is a simple story: I'm in Mexico drinking hot milk with coffee when a girl comes to my table with gardenias to sell. A simple story: shoeless, maybe six years old, she holds out her hand, "Please buy it, mister"-- fifty pesos (not even a dime) for one gardenia which I buy. The meeting the exchange the terms for peace. At this table in the plaza. In the surf of that first island, Columbus' trinity of ships anchored against the sky. At the gates of Tenochtitlan-- Moctezuma trying to appease Cortes with a moon made of silver and a sun of hammered gold--just enough to keep his...