Sunny
days so hot
I pour water in
and it runs out again
as I dance
until I am
like a river
in motion.
My arms and legs
like eddies
and currents
move in time
to the beat
of a drum.
I am a woman
of water
flowing through
a song.
Tired
and cleansed
I change
into jeans
and a shirt.
I trade my moccasins
for sneakers.
I fold away
my heritage
and my culture
and tuck them into
the trunk of a car.
The powwow is over.
It's time to go home.
We pile in
and drive away.
Resting
my head
against the glass
of a window
cracked open
to let in a breeze.
As our car
travels in time
to bring us back
to the present
a rushing wind
squeezes in
bringing
their voices
to me.
I
hear you.
You singers
whose spirits
haunt the winds.
I hear you singing
the old songs.
But I do not understand
the words.
I am left
with only a chant
and a melody.
But I sing
with you.
I sing
with you.
All the way home.
Thirst
Gentle
waters,
Loving waters
Of memory
Rising from your
weathered wells.
We passed you by,
Never drinking deeply.
Now
you rest,
Deep in earth's keeping,
And while
You lay sleeping
We thirst.
Kneel
we now
Where you lie hidden.
Waters of sorrow
Come unbidden,
Carving in the dust
An epitaph of regrets.
Where is your wisdom
Now
That we thirst?
Gone,
Gone are your words,
Your thoughts,
Your wisdom.
Our thirst
Your only legacy.
Had
only we stopped,
Had only we consumed
That which you
Would have given
So freely,
You would have left us
So much more.
Now
there is only thirst.
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