I Am You Or You Are Me / In Lak'ech
By Luis Valdez
You are my other me.
If I do harm to you,
I do harm to myself.
If I love and respect you,
I love and respect myself.
Tú eres mi otro yo.
Si te hago daño a ti,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
Si te amo y respeto,
Me amo y respeto yo.
This poem, written by Chicano playwright Luis Valdez, is part of a larger work, Pensamiento Serpentino. The poem draws heavily from Mayan philospophy and the Maya-Quiche origin myth El Popol Vuh.
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