Gu, leader of the San people
My name is Gu, the San are my people.
United we guard, the sacred mountain deep in the jungle.
Engraved in limestone,
a story of two Gods.
Uncountable sun turns, never wanting a throne.
Descending from skies, the Gods blessed generations.
Many moon and sun turns later, my father and elders,
gave the Blue Demon God, things that don’t matter.
Ishtar, a sad and solitary One, stories passed from father to son.
Shaping our beliefs and our way of life, seeking a mate and not a wife.
Legends of the Gods became real.
No more stories, but bodies we see and feel.
Lonely and seeking, He came down from his chair,
the one in the sky, to us down here.
Desperately seeking the arms of his lover,
not my sister, or my mother.
But, Gods need company from others.
Heavy drinking, lots of food, and blood from my brothers.
Afterward, we pretended to search,
“Here He is,” and “There He is, Demon God.”
Lots of laughs and lots of fun,
never helping Him find his special one.
Until he’d gotten tired and went back home.
One day I asked myself if we are a blessed people,
if we were the friends of the Demon God of the mountain,
why couldn’t anyone see how wrong it was?
To pretend, while He became more than just a friend.
I questioned the rituals of our ancestors.
Ceremony, of my father’s fathers.
Pretending, disappointing,
not only Him, but ourselves.
So very depressing.
So, I took Him to my furs.
My mighty cock, blood, and seed,
is what He preferred.
Not a young warrior of eighteen sun turns,
but a mate, his Kuku is what He deserves.
Our Demon God was very-very miserable.
I went to the top of the mountain.
to plead his case to the Gods in the stars.
Bulging my fists around my obsidian weapons, I yelled,
“Hey, you lazy, self-righteous, Old Ones.
Help your Baby Gods, and children, down here below the mountain.
Send us Ishtar’s lover. Bring us His mate, his Kuku!”
The Ancient Ones opened the skies, then sent the snake to bring us
the Birdman God with the white hair, to trick us.
Sometimes Gods spoke, but most of the time they ignored us.
We waited for Ishtar, but he’d forgotten us.
Many sun turns later, strange things started to happen.
I guess it’s because the sun turns for Gods and not for us under the mountain.
Kuku and San bickered like children.
Always getting into trouble and never helping.
That was to be expected,
Baby Gods sit in the sky and never lift a finger.
I went back to the top of the mountain
to have another word with the Gods in the stars.
“Hey, you lazy, stupid, Old Ones.
You did half a job! You sent one, but not the other!
I demand you make this right. It’s unfair!
Send down the Blue Demon God,
so He can save us from his Kuku, down here.”
The flames of the village firepit were still burning,
when the snake in the sky was seen returning.
by Kashel Char.
Excerpt from Anzulla, According to ISH
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