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Issue 39
Indigenous Literature

“Perhaps”

  • by Baruc Martínez Díaz
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  • September, 2026

Hueliz

Hueliz ce ilhuitl,
hueliz ce ilhuitl,
tlahtucayutl ontlami
huan ahcualtepachuhcayutl onmiqui.
Hueliz ce ilhuitl,
hueliz ce ilhuitl,
ahmo nemiz in ahque tlanahuatiznequi
nian ahque zan tlalhuiz tetlacamatiz.
Hueliz ce ilhuitl,
hueliz ce ilhuitl,
ahmo nemiz in ahque quichtequiz intequiuh tochanehcahuan
nian ahque quiciauhcatequitiltiz.
Hueliz ce ilhuitl,
hueliz ce ilhuitl,
ilhuicacupa meetztuna
mazque ucuc tunalli.
Hueliz ce ilhuitl,
hueliz ce ilhuitl,
onyez tepitzin toyultlacuxyuh
huan ocachi tlahuel toyulpaccayuh.
Hueliz inun ilhuitl,
hueliz inun ilhuitl,
mah axan yezquiani.

 

Quizás 

Quizás un día,
quizás un día,
se acabe el gobierno
y muera la tiranía. 

Quizás un día,
quizás un día,
no exista quien quiera mandar
ni quien se resigne nomás a obedecer. 

Quizás un día,
quizás un día,
no habrá quien robe el trabajo del pueblo
ni quien sea sujeto de explotación. 

Quizás un día,
quizás un día,
la luna ilumine el cielo
aunque sea de día.
Quizás un día,
quizás un día,
sea poca la tristeza
y mucho más la alegría. 

Quizás ese día,
quizás ese día,
debiera ser hoy.

Auto-traducción de Baruc Martínez Díaz

 

Perhaps

Perhaps one day,
perhaps one day,
the government will come to an end
and tyranny will decay.

Perhaps one day,
perhaps one day,
no one will seek to rule
nor merely resign themselves to obey.

Perhaps one day,
perhaps one day,
No one will steal the people’s labor,
nor will anyone be exploited.

Perhaps one day,
perhaps one day,
the moon will light the sky
even by day.

Perhaps one day,
perhaps one day,
sorrow will be scarce
and joy far greater.

Perhaps that day,
perhaps that day,
should be today.

 

Translated by Stibaliz Mancilla
From In oxchitl in kuikatl: 24 poetas contemporáneos en lengua náhuatl (UDLAP, 2020), edited by Martín Tonalmeyotl

 

Buy books by the authors and translators featured in this issue on our Bookshop page!

 

Photo: Jose Miguel Garcia Almaguer, Unsplash.
  • Baruc Martínez Díaz

Baruc Martínez Díaz is a chinampero from San Pedro Tláhuac, Mexico City. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in History from the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of the UNAM. He is a native speaker, translator, and writer of the Nahuatl language. Baruc has been a Nahuatl Language and Culture professor at the UACM-Tezonco and at the Tláhuac institution (IEMS-DF). He translated the children’s stage plays Ce Mahuiztlacotzin (Una varita mágica) and Chicomexochitl itetzin (Las piedritas de Chicomexochitl), written by William Fuentes and published by the SEP. In addition, he has published La alegría de la muerte y el dolor de la vida: Día de Muertos en San Pedro Tláhuac and La iglesia de Tláhuac y el proceso de evangelización en las comunidades indígenas.

  • Stibaliz Mancilla Salinas

Stibaliz Mancilla Salinas holds a BA in English Language and Literature and is a professional translator and bookseller. With a Postgraduate Diploma in Literary Translation, she combines her technical expertise in language mediation with a deep connection to the publishing world and readers through her work in bookshops.

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