Medicine, Solace

I know the Bear.
     watcher, courage
          unpredict(ability)
I know the Snake.
     wisdom of initiation

I know the Wolf.
I know a pack of 'em.
     loyalty, intuition


I know the Spider,
though I pretend
I don't.
     shadows, communication

I know the Owl,
or, I pretend 
I do.
     insight, clairvoyance


I even know the Fox.
(I may be the Fox.)
     cunning, hidden
          messenger


I know the Bobcat, the Alligator.
     patience, revenge
and other far-off
Beings, lost to this
space, but not lost
on me, not lost to me.

I know the Bat.
     secrets, longevity


I know the Cougar.
So well that I call her,
not by her first name but,
the First Peoples' names:
I call her Catamount/Painter/Puma/
I call her Panther/Mountain Screamer/
I call her Amigo da Onça
     foresight, leadership
          silence, patience

I know the Coyote, the Crane.
     ingenuity and folly; vigilance and independence
I know the Heron, the Lynx.
     self-reliance, balance
     guardian, listener, guide

And each of these,
each Medicine
each is prayed for
and each preys on
each arrives from
some inchoate world
(land? sky?)
beyond all sight.
An answered wish,
a plea,
a demand.

And each, a predator.
One who wrings life
from flesh
that it might deliver its
song, its dance of Medicine
to one so foolish as
me.

and yet the Hawk,
I see today,
though predator,
is the Medicine of
Solitude.

Near enough,
Far enough.
Alone enough,
apart enough.

a lone Alone.

Hawk
   Arc

Lofted.
        Lifted.

        Hawk.
Medicine.

Alone among...


Denadagohvyu

animalbirdmythologynative americanfree verse

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