Cenote (2019) - full transcript

This is our story.

And here we are.

CENOTE

How long have we been here?

The Sun.

Who were you?

What do you wear on your skin?

On that day, we wore

beautiful clothes of gold.

The people got down on

their knees in front of us.

Prayers were not enough.

We want to go back to where we were born.

To where the sun rises and disappears.

To where the earth is dry and burns.

To where the faint

breeze touches our cheeks.

How can we get out of here?

We have already melted into the water.

We can’t get out of here

but the living can come down.

A boy went into the cenote during August.

When people saw that he didn't come back,

they went to wait for him to come out,

and they say that the body came up.

But I can't tell you if he did come up

because I didn't go to see him.

They say it did come up.

The other boy that went into

the cenote never came up.

People waited for the body to come up,

but it didn't come up.

He went into a cenote, now we don't know

in which cenote he'll show up.

They say the body could get stuck.

It could go far.

That’s the problem with the cenote.

Cenote has many canals.

When I was a kid there was a cenote

near our town.

Many adults were taken into the cenote.

Year after year...

the water would rise

and take people into the cenote.

They died there. Some people don’t believe

that the water carries people with it,

because the cenote is 20 meters deep.

The foam and the water that come out

is what takes people.

If you are in its path, it will take you

and bury you inside the cenote.

Many people died there. They didn't know

about this and went to the cenote.

Then people realized that

when there’s bad weather,

in each storm, the cenote water

rises up to 20 meters.

Our reciters told us

the song of the minstrel.

One day I will kiss your mouth

between the plants of the milpa.

Shimmering beauty,

will you wake up?

We never saw the sea.

We wonder what is below the horizon.

Our fathers were afraid that

bad wind may come from the sea,

and bring us a fever.

Who knows how it happened,

I was small I only heard tales.

There was a lady who used to

live close to the cenote.

She had her baby and was feeding him

his night milk and the kid drank it.

The kid fell asleep, then the mother went

out. She climbed and jumped into the cenote.

They realized she was gone

and was nowhere to be found.

But they say that 24 hours after

the body always comes up on the water.

People look for a way to get it out.

I have seen 22 year old young man

who used to get drunk and walk by.

He walked around the place

where the men cut grass.

He jumped into the cenote and died.

They couldn't find him

when they looked for him,

but three days after that school boys said

someone saw a person inside a water well.

He was dead when he was taken out.

The water well was deep

so it was hard to get him out.

Every god danced and they disguised us

as birds, jaguars, bees,

butterflies, or beetles.

Following the dance of gods,

we dream of a falling meteor.

A meteor is crossing the Sun.

A meteor is falling on us

and making landscapes in our faces.

When the drought comes, the only place where

there will be water left is in the cenote.

It has a Mayan name, Cabachem.

There, to be able to drink

the water in the “cocoyol” shell,

you have to offer a baby,

so the legend goes.

Round and round in circles.

The lust to dominate lives.

Not to be dominated.

Their horses brought the chain of blood.

My mother always told stories because when she

was small there was no electricity here in town.

They used to go to the cenote

very often to drink water.

Here in Uzil cenote, since it’s closer to us,

people would go to rest for a while to be refreshed.

Many people said that when they arrived they

would see a big snake, like a dragon with wings.

Here in town we all know that it is

the owner of the cenote.

Sometimes when you go to the cenote,

all the walls have water on them,

because they say that it comes out

and shakes its body.

At night, the people who go to the woods say

it comes out and they see it flying around,

mostly during full moon, they see it

come in and out the cenote.

That’s why sometimes when we go to the cenote

there’s water outside. They say the cenote overflows,

but other people say it is

the creature which lives in the cenote.

They say ancient Mayans used to

live in the cenote Uzil.

They would make Sac’ha,

the traditional Mayan drink.

They would do their rituals,

and offer it to the cenote,

But now they don’t do that anymore.

They say that after a while the cenote comes

alive and takes a sacrifice on its own.

That’s why people who die in the cenote are

never seen again, not even their bodies.

We don’t know if it’s because the cenote has veins

that connect to another cenote or to the sea.

But, the last time a person died there, about

two years ago, they never found his body.

They even had a Mayan ritual, prayers for a

week. Divers came but he was never found.

That’s why people believe the cenote has an owner

and when someone goes you never see them again.

Minstrels are the prophets.

The prophets are the reciters.

The reciters are our memories.

The living cleans the bones to

think of the dead souls.

The grave keeper takes care of the bones

without any surviving relatives.

Those unknown living.

Those unknown dead souls.

Let them sing.

Flowing with joy.

Let them sing.

Wandering with gazes.

Let them sing.

Making a myth of Tomorrow.

We are not defeated.

The world is divided,

in those who dominate

and in slaves.

Here came the most blood thirsty men,

with vices,

rapists.

They scared us with cannons.

They divided us.

Horses

destroyed codices and temples,

desecrated beliefs,

raped women,

but they have not ended us.

They don’t know that

in the silence gods live,

like Tepew,

like Kukumatz

and Huracán.

Who will throw dirt in

their mouth and eyes?

We are thousands waiting,

decimated,

hurt in the soul.

We have to learn to live with

the light of the sun and the moon,

to speak with the sea,

give food to eternity,

receive those who will be born,

clean up the streets from

the trash of these centuries,

carve stone,

and may the crops be fertilized.

The dew,

the air,

and the humidity.

To see how the trees grow,

how they spread their seeds,

regain cedro trees,

ceiba trees,

lemon trees,

the smell of flowers,

also

let’s not forget the holy custom,

13th deity,

recognize roads,

towns,

towns and sea,

cardinal points.

How is one born?

Live?

And dies?

Dogwood trees,

grandfather.

Who will answer these questions?

It is us.

It is us.

We remember all we saw and heard.

Nothing is forgotten.

Impossible memories.

Are they really ours?

Today there is a feast in the villages.

Dawn streams over the horizon.

It goes south. It goes north.

It goes east, and also the west.

Light comes to the earth.

Darkness is gone.

Roaches, crickets, fleas and hummingbirds

hurry home.

Magpies, white doves, swallows,

partridges, mockingbirds, thrushes, quail,

red and white birds rush about

light of the sun.

All the forest birds

begin their song because

morning dew brings happiness.

The Beautiful Star

shines over the woods,

smoking as it sinks and vanishes.

The moon too dies

over the green forest.

Happiness has arrived

in these towns

because a new day brings the dawn.