The Weavers
In Teotitlan, the pueblo of tapetes,
even the children have learned
how to make yellow turn
to pink with a pinch
of cal, how to color
wool with pigments
squashed from plants or
insects, how to weave,
running the looms as
we might pace a treadmill,
their workout turns
lana into rugs, bags,
wall hangings, a living. Zapotec
is their first language,
but they know enough
Spanish, English, French
to bargain over shade,
intensity, pattern, the three
months each brilliant textile
took from their lives.
Glossary:
Teotitlan – a town in the state of Oaxaca, near Oaxaca de Juarez
Pueblo – town
Tapetes – tapestries
Cal – baking soda
Lana – wool
shewhodaresnothing 