Shield with Owl Figure

 

This gilded and silvered copper disk reveals

outstretched wings and grasping talons,

inlaid eyes of shell and turquoise,

light reflecting off contrasting movement.

The Moche (the Mohicas) flourished

six centuries, from Nepena River Valley

perhaps as far north as Piura River.

At the burial site of Loma Tegra

there was no tradition of writing –

the precise significance of owls 

is unknown. (Owls prey, fly at night ...)

Of mystical or divine power,

Owl is my totem, on my left side.

(On my right I have Serpent.)

Written for  Poets and Storytellers United at Friday Writings #234: Words for Images, this is largely an erasure poem taken from the long text about this artwork at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The erasing leaves some quite big chunks of sequential words, so it also qualifies as a found poem. Only the last two lines, italicised to differentiate them from the rest, are my own words. (Image and text in public domain, open access.)