The Cliffs to Torre Torre (Huancayo's Envy))Peru))

The Cliffs to Torre Torre
(Huancayo’s Envy))Peru))



Prehistoric Geological Monument near Huancayo


Tall up by the cliffs, in the township of Huancayo, stands
A cluster of piercing stone like pillars, lightening rods
From the Ancient-gods, with thousands of years being:
weather worn and torn and blistered;
These pillars of stone reach—heavenward.
Around this cluster, an engulfing, natural enclosure
Like an old cemetery guarded with erect towers and tombs;
Brownish rocks, baked by the sun, washed by the rains
from the heavens:
It is called ‘Torre Torre’ and rests below the cliffs of Huancayo,
alone.
It is the envy of the Valley, where both warrior and poet seek.

#1788 4/13/2007

Note: The poem, ‘…Torre Torre’, is not referring to the island called ‘Bora Bora’ in the South Pacific, it is a geological wonder in and around Huancayo, Peru, beyond the Andes, in the Valley of Mantaro. How it got its name, I don’t know, but I’ve been to the site a number of times, and it is always fascinating to see the course the wind, and weather have taken on this geological wonder, how they worked to mold such things as these stone towers; primeval geological erosion. Fascinating I say, for surely they’ve been here longer than the city of Huancayo, habitants by some 325,000-citizens; an old Wanka culture once roamed this area, perhaps dating back to 1000 BC. The stone pillars are more tucked away in what I’d call a gorge. One can go down to see it, and actually walk through it, or one can go onto the cliffs above it, and look down over it, and if more adventurous, climb down into it, or like me, just observe it from a close distance, both ways.

For folks who wish to visit the site: Torre Torre is a geological formation of enormous towers of clayey soil, molded by the winds and rain, located very near to Cerrito de la Libertad.