Cityscapes

and the North cut off from communication. No help can come nor go. We have returned to the era when the United States stole our territory: our regions no longer form a sole country.

***

Life in the Desert towns is closely related to the plants that helped them survive: the zacate long-­‐grass of Zacatecas, or Mexicali’s arrowweed. That plant for the Valley of Mexico, or more specifically, for Xochimilco, was the water hyacinth. After the flooding of the Reborn Rivers, the blended smell of rotting hyacinth and dead corpses was quite common. After the Great Tremor, the favored plant became marijuana. People preferred to die drugged up and dry-­‐mouthed over simply dying from the heat. Nothing held any meaning at that point.

***

I came to Mexico City fleeing the heat of my land, Culiacán, when the tragedies began. The earthquake was the most stunning thing that happened. It came at the worst moment, just when the heat had reached levels like the Northern Deserts. The rescue missions hindered, people were dying as they made efforts to lift the debris and rescue

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