Maverick Poet Award Finalist: “Salvadora” by Paul Brooke
Salvadora
—a series of cueca chilenas telling
the story of a woman saved by
pumas in Torres del Paine
1. The Lookout
For decades, she lived quite
selfishly. Here, it was light, food,
sleep, trails, granite cataracts,
orange sandstone, protecting cubs
from rogue males. Yes, protecting
cubs from rogue males,
guarding cave’s mouth, alert
lookout. The mother chirped and
purred in her ear: Never unwind.
Be pure and devout.
2. Comida Comunitaria
Four females cheek rubbed, greeted
each other, shared meat
communally, let her approach
on all fours and feed alongside
kittens, humbly. Yes, alongside
kittens, humbly. “Survival
supersedes politics, crossing
imaginary boundaries, allowing us
all to intermix.”
3. Supplicant
Her form was smaller than theirs,
flattened. Eyes downcast and
averted. Their stomachs distended
and fattened. “We see the wild
inverted. Yes, we see the wild
inverted. I believe in brutal purity,
not tyranny or dictatorship but living
authentically.”
4. Noetic
Feathers blended; eyes ached for
relief and she sensed north-facing
scrub and searched steppe
for lone nesters. One clutch of eggs
fed both cubs. Yes, one clutch of
eggs fed both cubs.
From halves of one shell, she made
two bowls and the cubs lapped and
slurped up their fill,
supercharging their exhausted
souls.
5. Charged with Murderous Intent
The charge was meant to intimidate,
leaving cubs unsafe amid dried up
thickets and unprotected
like two porcelain orchids. Yes, like
two porcelain orchids. The woman
held ground, kept
her feet while claws tore the air,
shredded cloud. She never once
considered retreat.
6. Pilferer
He bulldozed a young female
backwards, powerful imposition. His
heft and leverage
were too great: lit dynamite and
demolition. Yes, lit dynamite and
demolition. Marginalized
and disenfranchised, she despised
his dominion and lived to see his
terrene downsized.
7. Contusions
Puma bruised by hoof kicks, cut by
rocks, but dragged chulengo hours.
Her cubs greeted her
in happy shock. Woman fixed
wounds, empowered. Yes, woman
fixed wounds, empowered.
Cubs hungrily devoured carcass.
She had completed her self-study
and slowly traversed
the yellow grass.
8. Glacial Flour
Cyan blue was the tint of fine silt,
glacial erosion, ground rock
particles, purest degradation.
Hubris stripped. Humbleness
stocked. Yes, hubris stripped.
Humbleness stocked.
Pumas smoothed her callousness,
scraped away unfriendliness,
distrust, established
bluest lake of noblesse.
MAVERICK POET AWARD FINALIST “Salvadora”
Paul Brooke hails from Iowa, where he combines poetry, photography and science. He is the author of six books including The Skáld the Drukkin Tröllaukin and Arm Wrestling at the Iowa State Fair. He travels widely and has published a definitive book on jaguars (of the Northern Pantanal). His most recent environmental project included photographing pumas in Chile, learning how to use a Scanning Electron Microscope and finishing a book Pantagruelian: Photographs and Poems of Torres del Paine. "Salvadora" is a selection from this book and tells a myth about a woman who lives with pumas in order to save herself and them.