My language was born among trees,it holds the taste of earth;my ancestors' tongue is my home. -from &8220;The Old Song of the Blood&8221;A legacy of land and language courses through the pages of this spirited bilingual edition, offering an expansive take on the internationally renowned work of Humberto Ak&8217;abal, a K&8217;iche&8217; Maya poet born in the western highlands of Guatemala.Featuring both Ak&8217;abal&8217;s Spanish translations from the indigenous K&8217;iche&8217; and English translations by acclaimed poet Michael Bazzett, this collection blossoms from the landscape of Momostenango&8212;mountains covered in cloud forest, deep ravines, terraced fields of maize. Ak&8217;abal&8217;s unpretentious verse models a contraconquista&8212;counter-conquest&8212;perspective, one that resists the impulse to impose meaning on the world and encourages us to receive it instead.