Best Totem Poems
Desiring to know the totem guiding me,
I fell to sleep and dreamed, and in my dream,
a creature brightly painted crept its way toward me.
It spoke in the voice of a female,
but the voice I heard was coming from its soul as
it spoke to my heart, blinking at me with large yellow eyes:
I am your spirit guide, dear.
From whence did you think had come
your peaceful, patient nature?
You strive for success with constancy and determination.
Grounded to this earth -
you are, in fact, in tune with all its elements and its creatures,
for your energy is one of innocence and harmony.
Did you think I would appear to you as the speedy tiger
with big bold stripes of black and yellow-orange?
No, I come to you as the lowly turtle
with lovely olive skin, smooth shell, and beautiful pattern underneath.
However, like the tiger, I have stripes too - yellow, black, and orange -
and I too am a survivor!
You rarely react with anger like the tiger, which shows long sharp claws.
No, you are like me, mild-mannered, and you have adaptability.
If you get turned over, you are able to right yourself.
Like me, you get right back up and simply move along.
You make peace whenever you can, so your foes are few!
Also like me, you withdraw into your own protective shell.
That beautiful shell is the world that you carry on your back.
You accept what is and still you keep going,
ever - ever going, for wisely you know what wins the race!
Finally, like me, you love the water and the sun as well as land.
This is because you are at home in any place.
Spread your arms and fly through crystal ripples.
You can be faster and more carefree in the fluidity of water.
You may not be a tiger, but your stripes are just as beautiful and vibrant.
Blessings on you, dear, and last of all,
always remember to take the time to bask, as I do,
in the light of the radiant sun!
Written June 16, 2017 for White Wolf's Spirit Guide Animal Poetry contest
If you have never been in touch with a spirit animal
follow me for you have simply not paid attention
I have so many I am a walking wildlife zoo
My ultimate most powerful spirit animal is the deer
neck to neck with the wolf and the eagle
Deer reminds me to be demure, to wait, to listen
Wolf urges me to be primal, to howl as loudly as I can
And as often as I can, to be sensual and serious
To gnash my meat up, tearing it apart with gusto
Eagle encourages me to soar, to fly as high as I can,
To take myself safely to the mountain top, and
feed my eaglets any rabbit I can catch and carry
Wait. Do these spirit animals contradict each other?
Remember, I am a Gemini. Mercurial and changeable.
A chameleon also guides me, helping me to switch colors.
Chasing away playful raccoon another spirit animal
who is riding my spiritual dragon into the enchanted forest
yelling commands, followed closely by turtle who tries to keep up.
There was a farm hand named Tommy Totem
Who went out to the garden and hoe’d ‘em
But that implement
Was useless since bent
So he used the tool next to his scrotum
For Bawdy Limerick two contest
July 1, 2014
Deep in my heart I cry out to the owl,
A feathered fowl represents watchfulness
And the everlasting search for wisdom,
Brown speckled bird that hears the call of truth,
It holds to its high perch tenaciously,
And is thought so infinitely stubborn.
The owl is the messenger of the sky,
It is free to skim across the chill air,
Riding the breeze, scorning distance below,
Its sharp hearing picks up the smallest sounds,
Sensing every movement below on ground.
The herald of change, harbinger of death.
The owl's eyes bright can see in the darkness,
Its senses of steel pierce through illusion,
The owl is surrounded daily by night,
Warm symbol of new morning creation,
And navigator of intuition.
I rarely see, yet is dear to me.
In deep of forest he roams with might
A silken coat flaring through eve’s air;
When moon casts boldness on a steed’s rite
To journey free… far as runes declare,
My horse totem enkindling power
Directing flights in my younger days --
Where carousels merry blessed the hour
This kinship granting me strength, ablaze:
Flows his mane of auburn, a crown’s hue
Resting kindly on marshes of land;
A character known just to a few
Is grace of friendship time could withstand :
My spirit guide runs wild, yet he’s tame
For vision of light two of us hold
Through tenderness or speed, we inflame
One hearth beaming on raced dreams…consoled!
~o~
For Dear Heart's Spirit Animal Contest
6/3/2020
A basketball player named Odom
Wants to dribble the balls in his scrotum
He tries to bounce them
Hardwood boards renounce them
Odom can't put 'em back ~ has to tote 'em!
Bottom of Totem Pole
Oh my gosh and do bless my soul
Someone is at bottom of totem pole
Then try to control way they vote
Making them become a scapegoat.
Are always rocks and a hard place
To find each difficulty we must face
All the obstacles and obstructions
Can possibly result in concussions.
So after much further inspection
We should go in a new direction
Follow two points with persistence
Straight line is the shortest distance.
Jim Horn
I walked the mother earth many moons ago
I danced to the feathered arrowhead drums
Shall I call his name again?
I miss my warm spirit
My name is Meadows
With mine I can feel a comb of silence, his hand to mine
He will come to me , as each frog moon passes
The drums call on my earth, flames smiled
Cool waters show me spring is here
Gentle rain beats along side my teardrops
Should the sands open to the blazed sky?
I shall sing one with mother earth
Her ancestry gown sheltered me so long
My love once walked earth with me
I shall await , my Cherokee rose call me home
Revered the earths hums with eagles plight
Hidden deep with all blessed roads to journey
Thrills of beauty , you feel the wings at your back
A sovereign spirit each calls, whispering stars
Natures blessings vesper lights shine
Guiding spirit feels the roses blanket covert
Powerful networking in spiritual retreats
Thundering gracefully in each dream
Surrounded by moons brightness
Winter warriors danced as each one sent in totem flames
On the northern plain while the sheltered clouds hang high
You can feel the each angels home
Mystical runners bare to threw world
Cloaked in each delightful replica of blue eyes
My love once walked earth with me
I shall await , my Cherokee rose call me home
An energetic wedge of blue cranes doing mating dances
entered into Little Bear’s dream state without warning
Are they my totem? My spiritual advisors? My power animals?
He believed in such things, being Navaho.
He asked the revered shaman for advice
The crane will bring you luck and fortune
You will succeed where others have failed.
Keep him; he will teach you to prioritize.
The blue crane specifically will bring you peace.
Teach you to meditate, and be mindful.
You will better listen to the universe.
She is always speaking.
Little Bear had always been cheerful,
But this dream uplifted his heart.
Made him incredibly joyful.
He was a changed brave.
Red Fox is a totem being,
for in true wisdom, he is seeing,
though in dreams, an image fleeting;
it bears repeating, it bears repeating.
Reminds us all, we have to laugh,
have fun, play, be a little bit chaff,
though some may call you, old Falstaff;
you’re not riffraff, you’re not riffraff.
Late at night, when old moon beams,
red fox will come into your dreams,
he can lead you to great schemes;
wise guide it seems, wise guide it seems.
Red fox wisdom upon dream scroll,
says keep your eyes upon your goal,
while with humor you can grow;
you’ll become whole, you’ll become whole.
For in humor, wisdom is found,
never be in sadness found,
his advice will keep you sound;
great things abound, great things abound.
Aiyana is a tiny bit jealous of her brothers.
They get to be in the sweat lodge with the men tonight.
This means they will soon be discovering their totem animals.
Why is this only for males in the Shoshone tribe? She asks her mother.
At three in the morning Aiyana finds herself out of her body.
She is now a furry wolf, running with sister wolves
She feels their loyalty and appreciates their appreciation.
They have embraced her, she is one with them, part of the pack.
We have chosen you, they tell her, for you are intelligent.
She recognizes their shrewdness and their intuitive ways.
She runs with them throughout the night sky.
In the morning, she howls her appreciation to the heavens.
I searched in the plantations all day
one pineapple I got out of sweat
but it is not a normal earthly fruit
it is adorned with tattoos and taboos
The totem pineapple kills my buds
I chew calmly the sweetness in mouth
wanting not that it is finished in haste
totem pineapple, how delicious you are
At the back is the tattoo of temptation
in front is the tattoo of rare sweetness
at the sides are tattoos of imaginations
on the face there’re tattoos of satisfaction
My totem pineapple adorned with beauty
bats of the air, moles of the soil admire
but I shall not allow while I’m still alive
hot poachers to taste my tabooed totem
Totem pineapple is mine forever ever
in you sweetness germinates and grows
Bats, moles risk not your wings and legs
I have cutlass to trim them like branches
chirping exhaust trails
of a streaming philharmonic
blue-winged panegyrics float in
on a breeze of murmurs
dazzling brainwaves prevail
upheavals of a dawning melody
sequels of an aurora psalm
silken song of a chickadee
twilight fascination
in strands of a woven sapphire
orchestral melodic line
a thalia chorus with notes of
birch on a spring morning
4th Contest Place Winner
Written: June 21, 2022
A BRIAN STRAND PREMIERE CHOICE Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
Born shackled with globe sized
yoked millstone around my neck
rivaling the world Atlas shrugged,
or outsize boulder Sisyphus
eternally obliged to toil uphill
steepest mountain side
in concert with
Battlestar Galactica pièce de résistance
ear splitting discordant cacophonous din.
Simultaneously analogous twin tower
of Old Faithful geyser
Googleplex times Mariana Trench
aqueous oceanic chasm amply housing
Rhode Island sized fountainhead
constantly spewed vitriol
out subterranean mouth
scalding yours truly
with deadly skull king poison
(parenthetically), metaphorically, hyperbolically
approximates, nee aforementioned
actually an understatement
how whit sir yours truly
psyche dashed, manhandled, whipsawed
post parturition mine birth
subjected to class sic
biochemical, environmental, neurological
pummeling, oft times the cudgel
inherent, latent, salient...
genetically scripted torment.
Case in point
constitutes psychosocial (mine)
extreme introvertedness,
painfully shy reticence
exiled within zapped
writhing, wrenching, wracking
emotional, physical, spiritual isolation
plaguing mein kampf,
a worse fate than death
experiencing brutal and
nasty schooling as outcast
never feeling linkedin among peers,
nor family of origin
particularly latter years
minimally functioning just squeaking
to advance from one grade to the next
hidebound by invisible manacles
weighted heavily with severe anxiety
debilitating, paralyzing, unrelenting
panic/ anxiety attacks.
Scattershot employment track record
poor credit rating
the bane of misery
bias, discrimination, prejudice
throughout hand to mouth existence
impacted two innocent grown progeny
the eldest unforgiving,
no matter this papa coped
with demands of child raising
the missus easily overwhelmed
deferred domestic duties
birthday party arranger,
chauffeur, cook, homework helper,
summer time planner,
medical appointment scheduler...
I breathe fire like a dragon killing demons
And I fight hard to kill the devils in my heart
I blow steam like an engine running through the night
Keep pumping ‘else my motor’s gonna fall apart
I survey down like a falcon during midday
Looking for my next meal, seeking resolution
And I charge on with a wolf totem within me
Always alone without a pack to call my own
As I make the earth my throne I become apart
My wandering soul won’t let me rest; always more
I rumble on with a wolf totem within me
My teeth bared, I light the skies with my holy war
To seize the day is a battle fought within us
But we’ve gotta bleed if we wanna win the game
We all need a wolf totem deep inside our hearts
If we want the minstrels to sing our given names