68 Voces: La última danza: Maya (U Yóok'otil KíimilI)

The last dance

There was a conversation with my father…

...that I keep within me:

“Daughter, I often dream of your mother.

She is always young when I see her, the years just don’t go by for her.”

“And what does she say?

I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“You’re now older than she is,

that’s why you can’t see her.

“I’m thinking of going after her,

I don’t want to be too old for your mother.

She still likes me...

...in my dreams we take walks in different places...

...we remember all the dances we did together.”

“You would really go with her?

What about me?”

“You’ll stay here.

I have planted in you the seed of the dances

and you will make it multiply all around the world.

“We were only instruments...

...so you could exist.

This is like the seed of life...

...it is necessary that its face be buried in the ground...

...it is necessary that it performs the death dance.

If it succeeds, its sprouts will see the surface.

It will grow in the form of a plant...

...it will be strong and it will bear fruits...

...it will always bear fruits...

...because it learned to succeed before it was born.

This is why you have to think that people that are gone...

...they're not gone in vain...

...think about your kind...

...and when the moment comes for you to go...

...you must be ready.”

When my father lay down to rest that night...

...he never woke up.

But I knew that he would be happy...

...because he had gone to meet my mother.