Michael Burch Poet Free verse

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing

Cherokee Travelers' Blessing
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

I will extract the thorns from your feet.
For yet a little while, we will walk life's sunlit paths together.
I will love you like my own brother, my own blood.
When you are disconsolate, I will wipe the tears from your eyes.
And when you are too sad to live, I will put your aching heart to rest.

Originally published by Better Than Starbucks

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Anais Vionet December 14, 2020 at 3:39 AM Lovely - do you know how old it is? I suppose it was passed in oral tradition originally - do you know if the Cherokee wrote things down? Michael Burch December 14, 2020 at 4:15 AM I'm glad you think it's lovely. Native Americans didn't have writing until the whiteyes showed up, so it's hard to say when the original poem was composed.

Geren Diaz September 6, 2019 at 3:39 PM Everyone has his or her own idea about friendship, but there always seems to be some kind of bittersweet ending that has made me stay alone in this world. Michael Burch December 14, 2020 at 4:16 AM Hopefully we can have compassion for other people traveling similar paths, which is how I read the poem myself. I've always been a loner myself.