Everything In Life Is Circular

My culture has been taken away, I am a result of the government; my hair dark and long sometimes I wear it in braids, I am of an era brought up white. My life happy and I have been loved, though, I always knew that I was different and have a wildness inside of me that could never be tamed. (I yearned for something unseen; in dreams I ride a wild horse and live in a forest- green.) In time I was told: that I was Ojibwe so I went in search of my roots, the reason for my vivid dreams. I recall my first visit to an Ojibwe Culture Center, where I felt, this is where I belong, with my people. I listened to the teachings of the elders their stories, songs, and the beating drums, I heard the lessons on morals, values and spirit. The stepping stones one must follow, The 7 Grandfather teachings; the wolf, the raven, the buffalo, the bear, the beaver, the turtle, and the eagle and that everything in life is circular, and the heart is the center; and after all this I embraced the eagle. (The eagle flies the highest and is closest to the creator and sees all from a great distance, the eagle is the core to all teachings. The eagle is love.) One day, I climbed a high cliff I stood tall in my doe skin dress, and my black braids blew in the wind in my mind drums beat a rhythmic pounding and the elders sang. Soon an eagle was hovering above in the azure and down drifted an eagle feather into my hands. This is considered the highest honor the most sacred gift, I placed it in my hair- and now I have found my place in the circle of life and who I am meant to be. _________________________ February 10, 2017 Poetry/Narrative/Everything In Life Is Circular Copyright Protected, ID 17- 874-147-0 All Rights Reserved. Written under Pseudonym. Native American Lore Contest sponsor, Frank Herrera Third Place