José Emilio Pacheco / High Treason

Zempasuchitl
Lagunilla, México, 2013

Photo by Triunfo Arciniegas

HIGH TREASON

By José Emilio Pacheco 

I do not love my country. Its abstract splendor
is beyond my grasp.
But (although it sounds bad) I would give my life
for ten places in it, for certain people,
seaports, pinewoods, fortresses,
a run-down city, gray, grotesque,
various figures from its history
mountains
(and three or four rivers).