Joomla project supported by everest poker review.

Song while Dancing around an Empty Village

They are dead in my village.
 
I see them sleeping in lodges
 
Or lying on high death-posts
 
Or tied in trees as if fasting.
 
 
Killer Whale and Raven
 
Stand among them, broken.
 
Blackberry and salmonberry
 
Grow from their open mouths.
 
 
Sea Wolf, Beaver, Bear Mother
 
Have fallen against them.
 
The Crooked Beak of Heaven
 
Has nested in moss and lichen.
 
 
Now I untie the knot
 
                            Of my cold breath, to begin.
 
At my heels I wear the copper
 
Tail-feathers of Flicker.
 
 
Wherever I place my feet
 
They will make small fires.
 
I will make-necklace
 
Burning like spirit copper
 
 
Around the neck of my village,
 
And the souls of the People
 
Will fill them again, will sing
 
In their empty bodies, dancing.
 
 
 
 

David Wagoner

 
 
Dance Poetry
A comprehensive anthology
Edited by Alkis Raftis
Copyright 2012

©