Hands that kissed the earth,
that know the rain,
Hands that held the clouds
that smelled the sun
Hands of your breath,
that sang your song
folded over my eyes
Colormain
and landed on my heart.
You soared like the eagle
and slept in me
with your full awareness
of my being and your
full awareness of you.
I am the deer you hunt.
I am the rain you chase. I am You.
-Harold Littlebud
Water's Heart Tobacco Indian Poetry
Stretched like long legs
dancing in the sun's light
but so quietly
her face is hidden
by the shadows of what we have forgotten
Crickets sing
in a cave filled with crystals
like silver in the moonlight
like the red coal in a small hot fire
the path between them
has an opening
a message is there where you dream
in the place where you are dreaming
when you are there
Snake Dancing (Moon Dance Song)she was there
watching me
as i snake danced
on her warm belly
around us the wild winds blowed across the red sky
and i went
up and down
inside myself
it felt like i was dreaming
it felt like i was a feather
at the edge of a hot fire
shaking
my toes
in the golden dust
where the full moon was rising
Tobacco Store IndianI lie in the rain
my face in the mud
the mud on my belly
the moon on my moon
outside The Corn Covered Elder's Tobacco Emporium!
(open 24 hours)
So long have I stood unmoving
As the dry season wore on
keeping sacred vigil
beside the door
of The Corn Covered Elder's Tobacco Emporium!
Blessed every day by the coyote's morning water
As he rises from the ground on his one leg
and delivers the water where it will do the most good!
Till at last the rains came
and the sacred mushrooms grew around my feet
and the Tbirds remembered me
spoke to me
knocked me on my you-know-what!
I liiiiiiiiiie inna raaaaaaaaain!
How well I remember the day I got this job --
Great, so great, are the sin taxes imposed
by the government which Always Knows What Is Best For Us
that my corn-covered elder
(great, so great, in his wisdom
in the art of How To Make A Buck)
opened a tax-free tobacco store on his sacred land!
And little, so little can I do
now that the Tbirds got my number --
I am grateful that he gave me a way to earn my keep
standing in front of
The Corn Covered Elder's Tobacco Emporium
holding a handful of cigars
offering thi to the pilgrims who come
seeking day and night
seeking always!
The pilgrims come for hundreds of miles around
buy many cartons of cigarettes
and are gone
to their private shrines they go
to burn tobacco unceasingly to their familiar spirits
the Tobacco Joneses!
Day and night unceasingly they come
laden with frogskins,
as their familiar spirits the Tobacco Joneses urge them onward
like one-legged coyotes nipping at their heels!
The offerings of frogskins they bring to my corn-covered elder!
Nevermind that they can eat neither frogskins nor cigarettes --
For the Government Which Always Knows What Is Best For Us
has seen to it that there is always food
(if you don't mind eating straw and glue)
but frogskins and cigarettes are harder and harder to come by!
Great, so great, is his wisdom
he always knows what they need before they speak even a word!
He accepts their frogskins
gives thrm something far more valuable --
Cigarettes
to offer to their familiar spirits
the Tobacco Joneses!
And in the back of the Corn Covered Elder's Tobacco Emporium
Video Poker Games!
Slot Machines!
Even Bingo on Wednesday Nights!
Wise, so wise, is my Corn Covered Elder
He knows always what they need .......
Except one man
stupid whiteboy wannabe
came in looking for BULL DURHAM!
came in looking for OUR PRIDE!
My Corn Covered Elder told him off good!
We don't sell that crap in here!
And I see them day and night
As I stand in front of
The Corn Covered Elder's Tobacco Emporium (open 24 hours)
Except when the rains come
And I fall on my face before the Tbirds
and I liiiiiiiiiiiiie inna raaaaaaaaaain!
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