This poem starts out about waking up and reflecting on the dreams you had, unraveling the threads to make sense of them. Beyond that, it is about heritage and the things we learn from our ancestors. It is specifically about the poet's culture as aa member of the Ft. Peck Sioux, and how she yearns to bring her people togetehr to thrive off of the healing that their culture can bring.
Light pried open my eyes for vision to
unravel the layered dream bundle tossed
my way last night. It is always the energy
of the last thought, last vision
that urges breath to store all the little songs
floating over my head. The window shade
tuned to the wakening dial pulled me
to hunger, to thirst, to an empty bowl
as I contemplate
how to cut and dry buffalo grass
for cereal and bread.
All I want is my 24 hour version
of my life and more.
Last evening's storm was caught
by all the rooftop vanes and turned into
horse energy galloping around and around
one square room after another in an effort
to bring clear red circles
onto all the dark pages
that were written for our lives.
And, the hooves keep pounding
the message home.
This day I’m collecting all those old diseased
blankets everyone’s hanging on to,
burning them and sending a smoke signal
to open all the doors
that keep our people apart.
Right now I need to take a breath of
my mother’s vermillion medicine with
a full glass of my father’s healing bloodline.