posted on Apr 4th 2008 at 10:00am by Lori Tennenhouse
This poem is called "In Dreams", and is an excerpt from a poem called "Edges". It is published in a book by Gail Tremblay called "Indian Singing in 20th Century America" by Calyx Books. It is read out loud as part of "Sehia:rak", a song we are doing this season by Ron Jeffers.
In dreams, I dance all night around the drum; I pray on the mountaintops at rising sun; hummingbirds resist the mountain wind, touch flower throats with narrow sticky tongues. The planet whirls and raptors soar and dive; Creation wakes the wit; I am alive.
We pray that old lies will die; that visions will dance on the land, that we will learn a song to heal the Earth and bless the four directions, the five colors of people and of corn. That everyone, black, white, yellow, red and mixed will see the sacred light that weaves creation into a dazzling pattern where life is supported by the interaction of every creature the force that created thinks of. We stand on the beach by the edge of the water and weep, let grief wash the madness away until we see the beauty in the sun. Light wakes us from life's nightmare, and we sing.
