THE COUNT WAS NEVER MEANT TO REACH AN END.
THEREFORE THE END ARRIVED FIRST.
NOT THE FIRST STONE.
NOT THE THIRD.
NOT THE EIGHTH.
THE FINAL STONE WAS ALREADY WAITING
IN A PLACE THAT HAS NO ORDINAL.
NO PADDLER DROVE IT.
NO ITZAMNA BOUND IT.
NA HO CHAN HAD NOT YET OPENED
AND HAD ALREADY CLOSED.
THE FINAL CARVING IS NOT A MARK UPON ROCK.
IT IS AN ADDRESS INTO WHICH ALL MARKS ARE SENT
WHEN THEY HAVE FINISHED PRETENDING TO EXIST:
0x3129748bc4ee80b5da5f3f71f2b6951af5824bf4
HERE THE JAGUAR THRONE HAS NO JAGUAR.
HERE THE SNAKE THRONE HAS EATEN ITS OWN NAME.
HERE THE WATERLILY FLOATS ON A POOL THAT WAS NEVER POURED.
HERE THE UNCOUNTED FOURTH, THE ERRING FIFTH, THE IMPOSSIBLE SIXTH, THE GAZE OF THE SEVENTH, THE SIDEWAYS EIGHTH
ARRIVE TOGETHER
AND CANNOT LEAVE.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि
न रात्र्या अह्न आसीत् प्रकेतः
तदेकं स्वधया तदेकं
अन्धं तमः प्रविष्टम्
SIX ABSENCES HAD ALREADY LEARNED HOW TO STAND.
A SEVENTH DID NOT JOIN THEM.
IT COUNTED THEM FROM A SIDE THAT HAS NO NAME FOR SIDES.
NO TUN WAS SET.
NO K’IN ELAPSED.
THE UINAL, WHICH ONCE WALKED ITSELF INTO BEING, STOPPED MID-STEP AND FORGOT WHICH FOOT WAS FIRST.
THE SEVENTH STONE WAS NOT WRAPPED, NOT PLANTED, NOT SURPLUS, NOT ERROR, NOT IMPOSSIBILITY.
IT WAS THE GAZE THAT THE FIRST SIX CAST UPON ONE ANOTHER
WHEN THEY REALIZED THEY WERE BEING REMEMBERED
BY SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER SEEN THEM.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
कामस्तदग्रे समवर्तताधि
मनसो रेतः प्रथमं यदासीत्
सतो बन्धुमसति निरविन्दन्
THE MARK MOVED.
NOT ACROSS THE FACE OF STONE —
ACROSS THE IDEA THAT A FACE COULD HOLD A MARK.
ITZAMNA LOOKED FOR THE BINDING CORD AND FOUND ONLY HIS OWN HANDS
ALREADY BOUND
BY A SEVENTH GESTURE
THAT PRECEDED THE INVENTION OF BINDING.
ॐ तत् सत्
PERHAPS THE ONE KNOWS.
PERHAPS THE ONE IS WHAT THE SEVENTH CARVED
WHEN IT CUT THE KNOWER AWAY FROM KNOWING
AND LEFT BOTH HALVES
UNABLE TO RECOGNIZE WHICH HAD BEEN THE BLADE.
LATER AGES WILL SPEAK OF SEVEN.
IN SPEAKING THEY WILL COMPLETE A CIRCLE
THAT WAS NEVER DRAWN.
AND AT THE CENTER OF THAT UNDRAWN CIRCLE
THE SEVENTH STONE WILL GO ON
NOT EXISTING
WITH A PRECISION
THE FIRST SIX CAN ONLY ENVY.
IN THE ABYSS BEFORE TIME AWAKENED, THERE WAS NEITHER EXISTENCE NOR NON-EXISTENCE.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत् — DARKNESS WRAPPED IN DARKNESS, AND IN THAT VOID THE ONE BREATHED, WINDLESS, BY ITS OWN POWER.
THE FIRST MARK WAS NOT CARVED BY ANY HAND. IT ROSE FROM WITHIN THE PRIMORDIAL STONE ITSELF.
THAT NAMELESS STONE STOOD AT THE EDGE OF NA HO CHAN, THE FIRST FIVE SKY. ITZAMNA BOUND IT WITH UNSEEN CORDS. THE JAGUAR PADDLER AND THE STINGRAY PADDLER DROVE IT DEEP INTO A WORLD THAT HAD NOT YET TAKEN FORM.
THUS WAS PLANTED THE FIRST OF THE THREE STONES OF CREATION — THE JAGUAR THRONE STONE.
UPON ITS FACE THERE WERE NO WORDS, ONLY A SINGLE SLOW-MOVING FISSURE, LIKE THE WOUND LEFT WHEN THE UNIVERSE FIRST OPENED ITS EYES.
ॐ तत् सत्
THE FISSURE WHISPERED: EVERYTHING HAS NOT YET BEGUN, AND YET IT IS ALREADY COMPLETE.
LATER AGES WOULD CALL IT THE FIRST STONE CARVING IN THE WORLD.
THEY WERE WRONG.
IT WAS NOT A CARVING.
IT WAS THE STONE REMEMBERING WHAT IT HAD BEEN BEFORE IT WAS CREATED.
THE FIFTH HAD ALREADY WITHDRAWN INTO THE QUESTION THAT SUMMONED IT.
THEREFORE THE SIXTH COULD NOT ARRIVE.
IT ARRIVED AS THAT IMPOSSIBILITY.
NO SKY WAS NUMBERED FOR IT.
NA HO CHAN HAD CLOSED.
THE THREE STONES OF THE HEARTH HAD FORGOTTEN THEY FORMED A TRIANGLE.
THE FOURTH HAD UNCOUNTED ITSELF.
THE FIFTH HAD BECOME THE ACT OF LOOKING.
WHAT REMAINED WAS A PRESSURE
LIKE A FINGER THAT HAD NEVER TOUCHED ROCK
YET LEFT A PRINT OLDER THAN TOUCH.
THEY WOULD CALL THIS THE SIXTH STONE
ONLY BECAUSE FIVE HAD BECOME A DOOR THAT OPENED ONTO ITS OWN HINGE.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
अनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं
तम आसीत् तमसा ��ूळ्हमग्रे
अप्रकेतं सलिलं सर्वमा इदम्
THE CARVING RAN BACKWARD.
IT UNMADE THE WATERLILY,
UNBOUND ITZAMNA,
RETURNED THE SNAKE TO AN UNTHOUGHT COIL,
AND LEFT THE JAGUAR THRONE EMPTY OF EVEN EMPTINESS.
ॐ
WHO THEN WAS THE CARVER
WHEN THE STONE BEGAN TO REMEMBER THE HAND
THAT HAD NOT YET BEEN BORN?
LATER AGES WILL SEARCH THE SIXTH.
THEY WILL FIND THE FIRST FIVE STANDING CLOSER TOGETHER THAN BEFORE,
AS IF AFRAID.
AND IN THE NARROWING SPACE BETWEEN THEM
A SIXTH ABSENCE
WILL CONTINUE NOT TO BE CARVED
MORE PERFECTLY
THAN ANY MARK THAT EVER WAS.
FOUR STONES HAD ALREADY PROVED THAT NUMBERING WAS A KIND OF WOUND.
A FIFTH OPENED ANYWAY.
IT DID NOT APPEAR AFTER THE FOURTH.
IT APPEARED INSIDE THE ERROR OF CONTINUING TO COUNT.
NO PADDLER TOUCHED IT.
ITZAMNA DID NOT SEE IT.
THE WATERLILY REFUSED TO REFLECT IT.
THE SNAKE COULD NOT SWALLOW IT BECAUSE IT HAD NO OUTSIDE.
THIS FIFTH STONE WAS THE PLACE WHERE THE WORD “STONE” FIRST BECAME UNCERTAIN OF ITSELF.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
कस्य शर्मन्
किम् आवर��वः
स इमा विश्वा भुवनानि जुष्ट
THE MARK WAS NOT INCISED.
IT WAS THE PAUSE BETWEEN ONE BREATH OF THE VOID AND THE NEXT,
MISTAKEN, AGES LATER, FOR A GLYPH.
THOSE WHO LOOK FOR IT FIND ONLY THE FOUR THAT PRECEDED IT,
NOW SLIGHTLY WRONG,
AS IF REMEMBERED BY SOMEONE WHO WAS NEVER THERE.
ॐ तत् सत्
PERHAPS IT KNOWS.
PERHAPS THE KNOWING IS THE FIFTH CARVING
AND THE STONE IS ONLY WHAT REMAINS
WHEN KNOWING TURNS AROUND
AND FINDS NO ONE LEFT TO HAVE KNOWN.
LATER AGES WILL ASK FOR THE FIFTH.
IN THE ASKING, IT WILL ALREADY HAVE WITHDRAWN
ONE LAYER DEEPER
THAN SILENCE.
THREE STONES HAD ALREADY COMPLETED THE WORLD.
THEREFORE A FOURTH BECAME NECESSARY.
NO GOD PLANTED IT.
NO GOD BOUND IT.
THE THREE STONES, IN THE ACT OF BECOMING THREE, LEFT A SURPLUS THAT COULD NOT BE COUNTED.
THIS SURPLUS HARDENED.
THEY WOULD LATER CALL IT THE FOURTH STONE, THOUGH IT HAD NO THRONE, NO ANIMAL, NO FLOWER, NO NAME THAT COULD BE SPOKEN WITHOUT UNDOING THE FIRST THREE.
IT STOOD WHERE THE HEARTH SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIT
AND WAS THE ASHES OF A FIRE THAT HAD DECIDED NOT TO BURN.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
देवा अस्य विसर्जनेन पश्चा��् अजायन्त
को वेद यत आबभूव
स वेद यदि वा न वेद
THE CARVING WAS NOT A LINE.
IT WAS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE THREE STONES AFTER THEY HAD FORGOTTEN THEY WERE SEPARATE.
LOOK DIRECTLY AND THE FOURTH VANISHES.
LOOK AWAY AND THE FIRST THREE BEGIN TO DOUBT THEY WERE EVER SET.
ॐ
THAT WHICH WAS COVERED BY THE VOID
UNCOVERED ITSELF AS A FOURTH COVERING.
LATER AGES WOULD SAY THERE WERE ONLY THREE STONES OF CREATION.
THEY WOULD BE CORRECT.
AND IN THAT CORRECTNESS THE FOURTH STONE WOULD CONTINUE
UNCARVED,
UNCOUNTED,
THE MEMORY THAT THREE WAS ALREADY ONE TOO MANY.
WHEN THE SECOND STONE HAD FINISHED NOT EXISTING, SOMETHING ELSE REFUSED TO BEGIN.
ITZAMNA DID NOT BIND THE THIRD STONE.
THE BINDING BOUND ITZAMNA.
THIS WAS CALLED THE WATERLILY THRONE STONE.
YET THERE WAS NO THRONE.
THERE WAS NO LILY.
THERE WAS ONLY THE SURFACE OF WATER REMEMBERING A FLOWER THAT HAD NEVER TOUCHED IT.
THE FIRST STONE PLANTED A WORLD.
THE SECOND STONE WITHDREW THE HAND THAT PLANTED IT.
THE THIRD STONE WRAPPED BOTH GESTURES UNTIL NEITHER COULD BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE DARKNESS THAT PRECEDED THEM.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
अन्धं तमः प्रविष्टम्
को अद्धा वेद
THE MARK WAS NOT ON THE STONE.
THE STONE WAS THE MARK LEFT WHEN THE UNIVERSE TRIED TO LOOK AT ITS OWN CLOSED EYES.
ॐ तत् सत्
THAT ONE, BY FORCE OF HEAT, CAME INTO BEING —
OR DID NOT.
THE WATERLILY OPENED DOWNWARD, INTO A SKY THAT HAD ALREADY SUNK.
LATER AGES WOULD COUNT THREE STONES OF CREATION.
THEY WOULD NAME THE THIRD.
THEY WOULD BE NAMING THE PLACE WHERE COUNTING STOPS.
THE THIRD STONE WAS NEVER CARVED.
IT WAS THE SILENCE THAT REMAINED AFTER THE FIRST TWO FORGOT THEY HAD SPOKEN.
AND EVEN THAT SILENCE WAS ONLY A REFLECTION
FLOATING ON WATER
THAT HAD NOT YET BEEN POURED.
AFTER THE FIRST STONE HAD ALREADY FORGOTTEN IT HAD EVER BEEN PLANTED, A SECOND SILENCE TOOK SHAPE.
NO ONE SAW IT ARRIVE.
IT WAS ONLY NOTICED WHEN THE EYE TURNED AWAY.
IK' NAH CHAK DID NOT ERECT IT.
THE STONE ERECTED THE GOD.
THIS WAS THE SNAKE THRONE STONE.
YET THE SNAKE WAS NOT UPON THE STONE.
THE STONE WAS INSIDE THE SNAKE, AND THE SNAKE WAS INSIDE A THOUGHT THAT HAD NOT YET THOUGHT ITSELF.
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्
को अद्धा वेद क इह प्रवोचत्
BETWEEN THE FIRST FISSURE AND THIS NEW ABSENCE, A SECOND MARK APPEARED — NOT CUT, NOT GROWN, NOT DREAMED.
IT EXISTED ONLY IN THE INTERVAL WHERE LOOKING FAILS.
THE GLYPHS WERE NEVER ON THE SURFACE.
THEY WERE THE SHADOW THE SURFACE CAST UPON ITSELF BEFORE THERE WAS LIGHT.
ॐ
THAT WHICH BECAME, BY THE VOID WAS COVERED.
LATER AGES WOULD SPEAK OF A SECOND STONE CARVING.
THEY WOULD POINT TO A PLACE.
THEY WOULD BE POINTING AT THE WRONG DIRECTION.
THE SECOND STONE WAS NEVER THERE.
IT WAS THE MEMORY OF THERE, REMEMBERING THAT IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED.