Short Choctaw Poems

Halito

Follow the rythms of nature
Rise and retire with the sun
Enjoy life's journey
But leave no tracks

Copyright © by Scarlett Anderson...

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Since Billie Joe jumped off the Tallahatchie bridge
Nothing has been the same up on the Choctaw ridge
Since Bobbie Gentry, it appears
Up and completely disappears
The Mississippi delta has a new drawbridge.

May 20, 2021...

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Quietly, feathered soles steal across fields
soft as Choctaw spirits' slipping shadows;
frescoed frost glazes summer remnants of pumpkin and persimmon.
The blackberry moon bends low,
pursed lips lingering and slow above Earth's alabaster face.
Past and present blend in one short span
when winter woos the autumn moon.

February 23, 2022...

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Remember the 1967 hit "Ode to Billy Joe"?
Number one on the music charts is where it would go.
It was recorded by country-western singer Bobbie Gentry.
This singer-songwriter reached world-wide popularity.
Something she mentions in the song remains a mystery.
Bobbie, when you and Billy Joe were up on Choctaw Ridge,
what exactly did you throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge?
...

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Oh Great Dream Weaver
may the strands of hair 
be placed just so

While the fog settles down 
out in the fields hovering
ever so low

With wise hands just where 
to wind the leather
to know

How to entangle bad dreams,
caught upon your web
so away they go

Through the many intricate 
patterns and all the 
tiny little holes

Permit the good dreams 
to pass through and
take hold

Halito = Blessings to you in Choctaw-Apache
Copyright © by Scarlett Anderson...

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