Sworn Covenant

The Central Andes with the

Peruvian cordillera (like all great mountains)

Keeps me awake until morning’s light…

For what is most sacred and is written in stone,

Comes down from the mountain tops…

Writing itself on the tablets of our hearts–

Around the fires of the

night…

And so it is and so it was with Moses on

Mount Horeb, and here

Tonight, sleeping at the foot of Machu Picchu!

Daughter Shawna, Stephen and

don Oscar  Miro-Quesada, NYC 2011

Peruvian Shaman

If you too had been here you would know–

Why I have sworn a covenant

With

The God

Of the Mountain!

I shall grant no hospitality to fear.

I shall entertain caution but briefly.

I shall always and forever

Open my heart at the hearth

Of the God of the Mountain!