to an anonymous Mayan woman devoured by dogs

This dedication sparked in me the same feeling I felt when I read Lucille Clifton's poem:

"at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation, south carolina, 1989"

among the rocks

at walnut grove

your silence drumming

in my bones,

tell me your names

nobody mentioned slaves

and yet the curious tools

shine with your finger prints.

nobody mentioned slaves

but somebody did this work

who had no guide, no stone,

who moulders under rock.

tell me your names,

tell me your bashful names

and I will testify

the inventory lists ten slaves

but only men were recognized.

among the rocks

at walnut grove

some of those honored dead

were dark

some of these dark

were slaves

some of these slaves

were women

some of them did this

honored work.

tell me your names

foremothers, brothers,

tell me your dishonored names.

here lies

here lies

here lies

here lies

hear

Lucille writes to honor the slaves that were not mentioned on her tour of the walnut Grove Plantation. She writes and though she does not enumerate their hardships, she tells their story. They have been forgotten and overlooked. They did not matter in history to the person giving the tour. They did not matter enough to be named, and women did not count at all. my favorite part of the poem is the the repetition of here lies and the word play she introduces in the end with the word hear, as if to say to the reader, hear the lies they have been telling. In a way I feel that Todorov's dedication is a way to honor those who can not tell their story anymore. Those who no longer have names. The people who died at the hand of the Spanish who came and conquered them.