“My knees are to hold me proud and erect.
“My knees are for marching on my way.
“My knees are the knees of a man.
“Our god is Quetzalcoatl of the blue sky, and Huitzilopochtli red at the gates, watching.
“Our gods hate a kneeling man. They shout Ho! Erect!
“Then what can we do?
“Wait!
“I am a man, naked inside my clothes as you are.
“Am I a big man? Am I a tall and powerful man, from Tlascala, for example?
“I am not. I am little. I am from the south. I am small—