The stone trough
before the pyramid
seems a place for offerings –
maize or cacao,

jade or obsidian.
But our Mayan guide tells us
the winner of the annual
games was beheaded there

as a blood sacrifice to the gods,
that his immediate entry into
heaven was an envied prize.
Our guide is perplexed  

that back home, we elected
a president of boundless
greed, certain that this prize
is a nightly visit by the devil.