Cenote (A Pushkin Sonnet)
When the limestone roof collapses below
a sinkhole opens, forming a pool.
Deep blue water in an open grotto,
makes cenotes where swimmers are cooled.
These old wells are ceremonial sites
sacred for Mayan spiritual rites.
A portal from earth to the underworld
here the dead pass into their netherworld.
Chaac, the rain god is revered and lives here
as main life giver to each farmer's crops.
Ancients rejoiced at the sound of raindrops.
Mayans without rain, could disappear.
In the forests of our lives, we also seek
the solitude of our Cenote creek.
Lynn M. Hansen, a retired Modesto Junior College professor of marine biology, is a member of the Ina Coolbrith Circle, a charter member of the Modesto Stanislaus Poetry Center and past president of National League of American Pen Women, Modesto Branch. Her work reflects her sense of place and the art of storytelling. She enjoys gardening with native plants, photography, cooking and writing. Her published work includes Flicker, Poems by Lynn M. Hansen by Quercus Review Press (2013), Journey to Sky Avenue: The Life of Mernie Daisy Lewis (1882-1963) a self-published historical novel (2022), In the Presence of the Moai: Poems and Prose of Travel. Pen Women Press (2023). She has two Pushcart Nominations.
