i am native
here; my blood is real, it is long, it runs deep
like the river of my spirit, i cloth my skin in your skin
brother it is my skin ,the length of it, the longing
of it to movement - towards the great waters - towards
the laughter of the crow-bird, of the fleeting fox, i
am women
i dance to the rivers within me, i dance to
those spirits i carry they
dance to be born...
they dance to be born...through my river...
i am native, i
am woman
i dance to the songs of the mother who sings
to me, to my spirit whole and long with breasts unbound
by words un-tongued; i am ritual
the rain weeps on my feathered wing and
i dance
it calls me run, it
calls me dance
it calls me dance towards the dusk time red and starring
towards the morning dark longing for my light, i call
the wind, i call its eagle, i call the unborn
to sing and quicken within, i am native
i am woman
skinned in my sacred brother
i dance
bkmacenzie 2019
copyrighted
in honor of my beautiful mother...whose dance was not long enough
imaginary garden with real toads
What a lovely tribute to your mother.
ReplyDeletethank you toni...bkm
DeleteYour poem is beautiful. I love the way you dance through the lines. The lines that particularly resonate with me are:
ReplyDelete‘I dance to the songs of the mother who sings
to me, to my spirit whole and long with breasts unbound
by words un-tongued’
and
‘it calls me dance towards the dusk time red and starring
towards the morning dark longing for my light’.
thank you so much Kim...it really is a womans poem...bkm
DeleteI really love how you have chosen to dance... it's a wonderful way to move (I used to dance myself a bit) let life bring you music.
ReplyDeletelife is music...just in a different form...everything is singing...bkm
DeleteAH! The beauty of this verse lies in the evocation of its power and identity — the repetitions and forms of wordplay create a certain entrancing rhythm for this dance.
ReplyDeleteThis bit is especially wonderful in this lovely tribute: "i dance to the songs of the mother who sings/to me, to my spirit whole and long with breasts unbound/by words un-tongued; i am ritual/the rain weeps on my feathered wing..."
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Deletethanks Anmol, there is something so primal about dance...especially native dance with rhythms of the earth and the animals...we are to far removed from the earth...bkm
Deletebeautiful - but the "unbound breasts" resonates with me. We women are taught early on to strap them up, don't wear shirts without a bra... it really is strange how we have this "rule". In this poem, it seems freeing and true. Lovely poem for your mother.
ReplyDeletethank you Margaret- i think the image of unbound breasts for women is the symbol of having and unbound life....and as women freedom at times is a not available...bkm
DeleteTwo ways I read -- first as a virtually native dance , the second as shod in that wind in order to get closer to a truth. Either way the purity and reverence and abandon say there are still rivers to wake and walk by ..
ReplyDeletecloser to truth...something we must all look for within...thank you Brendan...bkm
DeleteWhat a truly beautiful dance, and tribute to your mother. As I read, I thought how we are all native to our individual lands, those of our birth and those of our heritage. No greater beauty than to be true to ethnicity.
ReplyDeletethank you Kerry..yes we all native and finding our true self in our heritage is a blessing that i believe gives us roots and purpose....bkm
ReplyDelete