The Ghost Dance Part II

2.

                                     Waiting for Wovoka

For some time the old ones gazed that way,
Then came a seer,
A man named Wovoka.
Who told them he had heard their voices calling in the night to him,
That voices spoke to him of better times soon to come,
That might be brought forth by a special way and a special dance
That would bring to birth a stronger magic than that of Progress,
That would dispel the evil changes.

They listened and they took heart
With the pitiful fervor of the desperate.
He taught his new believers his way and his dance,
And for a time, a fragile time in their trembling twilight
They feltl the spirit of a former time lying still upon their hearts,
A thing beyond the shallow grasp of youth.

     They sit stonily, unmoved in their fogs, remembering tales.
     When no one looks,
     They turn their failing eyes back to the red mesas
     To recall the Dance of the Ghosts.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2015

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