The Voice

“first there is a word the word is the song ” 1 song gives birth to the song and dance as the dance steps the story speaks 2 the icy mountain water that pierces the deep thirst drums my fire drums my medicine pouch 3 deep within my blood a feather in the sky foam on clear water Tayko-mol! 4 free as the bear and tall as redwoods throb my blood roots when spirits ride high 5 a valley ripe with acorns and yellow poppies everywhere as i stand here dreaming of you 6 jolting my dream an old man struggling with an eel      his coat appears disheveled and empty 7 in a sacred manner i sang and waited a lick of your blood i must take, reverently, deer 8 for you, blue corn baby, my thoughts on a melody of love sail the sky 9 around fire on my head a rattlesnake hisses and slithers then flies up      out of sight fighting in sleep i cry out 10 the snake in my spine is tensing for combat thoughts become forced and tight the air is a sharp knife 11 from under me today the earth was pulled balancing on a sharp mountain ridge i search for a plain 12 Tayko-mol has not left us but lives in the pulse of our words, and waits in the azure for us all