Tuesday 16 July 2013

Where we will carve our names


Soul Mates by Canadian artist Maxine Noel.        
She signs her artwork with Sioux name Ioyan Mani, which translates to "Walk Beyond".


With my four eagle feathers,
       I stir the air and fly to your hand

Bare of rings & ink, you seed my footpath
      salt & foam, as far as my raven's eyes can catch-    

A pair of seagulls circle eight times
       above us, wingtips white as falling snow

The yellowed river whispers songs
       of our mothers, we cradle them as precious stones

Native drums beat & shatter the evening
       crimson and lush as your skin, soft as knotted leaves  

An owl hoots, we hear the northern winds keel
     and rise its mast towards the blue ice-mountains

A cry from a distant coyote pierces sharp as my spear,
     then night wraps us silk-warm as crackling firewood- 
     
The wind rustles restful & plump as blackberries
    your face is silvered lake, stardrop & ebbing waves-  

Reach for me like a spring bud to rain,
     Pull me under your fur, shivering for your touch-  

I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home
     I will bear our names in the deep belly of the mighty tree

The thick-green forest hears our words &
     loops our rib bones under one skin, one spirit dance-

Let's climb the skies together -
      Let's feast with the candles melting like the moon -   


Posted for OpenLinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub - Happy Anniversary and cheers for more ~ I am vacationing in British Columbia and may be slow (but surely) in returning visits ~  I am enjoying the scenery and basking myself in the local arts.   

55 comments:

  1. nice...some really cool nods to first nation or native people...love the stirring with the feather...i will bear our names in the belly of the tree...what a cool line that is...the river whispering our song...all the nature elements too are very cool....glad you are have a good time grace...smiles.

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  2. You brought much animal spirit today at your bay. Glad your vacation is grand in BC land.

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  3. nice...love all the nature nods and tribal images.... Pull me under your fur, shivering for your touch-

    I will bear our names in the deep belly of the mighty tree...so intimate and deeply connected with the earth... glad you're having a good time....enjoy the vacation

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  4. no wonder the poem has that vibe when you're up in the nature :)

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  5. Wow. Loved this line:

    "Reach for me like a spring bud to rain"

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  6. I could hear the mystery and beating of drums in this ... and I adore the piece of the northern wind... very nice

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  7. I love how this engages all my senses. Continue to enjoy your vacation!

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  8. Just beautiful, Grace. BC does have such beautiful native art, doesn't it. I can feel its strong natural influence in your poem.

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  9. Grace, this is by far one of my favorites of your work. I'm very much taken by Native American spirituality, symbolism and this one is to be relished and reread.

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  10. Excellent romantic poem!

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  11. I like those last two lines - "let's climb the skies together/let's feast with the candles melting like the moon"!

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  12. wow...beautiful blooming verse Grace...as always you are amazing..loved those six concluding lines especially~

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  13. Very mnagical for sure, love the native imagery.>KB

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  14. This is just wonderful, so sensual and filled with the truth of all beings. It felt like a beautiful rain dance.

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  15. Nature and mysticism make a great mix. Enjoyed this.

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  16. This is a wonderfully soothing poem (I was feeling a lot of tension prior to reading). Beautiful.

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  17. Much to like here. The imagery is strong and real while the poems has an ethereal feel. Very enjoyable poem.

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  18. Gorgeous art and such intensely beautiful romantic poetry.

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  19. Beautifully visual poem, Grace. I hope you enjoy your vacation.

    Pamela

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  20. This is a really rich poem, Grace. Love it - especially all the references to First Nation culture and the way that it sees everything as interconnected.

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  21. "Pull me under your fur" ... Beautifully written piece.

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  22. Beautiful imagery and great similes, Grace. Your work has become so "graceful" - elegant, and rich. Loved it!

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  23. "Reach for me like a spring bud to rain"

    I feel the ache of the reaching here
    lovely

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  24. Great poem, embracing the nature...I can feel your joy of the trip, of the history and art...Happy travelling x

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  25. I love this poem a lot Heaven. The words transported me to this place you describe so well in my mind.

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  26. What a wonderfully vivid capture here, Grace! I especially like:

    I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home
    I will bear our names in the deep belly of the mighty tree

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  27. Very nice Haida feel to this. Well done!

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  28. Nice!..I really enjoy the two line-stanza form-- it keeps the piece moving briskly and has a nice rhythm! ~peace, Jason

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  29. Grace, gorgeous! I love the image of candles melting like the moon...

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  30. "I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home
    I will bear our names in the deep belly of the mighty tree"

    In a piece full of gorgeous lines, those are my favorite.

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  31. Reach for me like a spring bud to rain,

    Everyone can understand that! Image is gorgeous - enjoy your vacation!

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  32. Oh very nice...lovely imagery... loved this line... I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home
    I will bear our names in the deep belly of the mighty tree... wonderful write!

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  33. Oh, such a brilliant line to end this lush dream on, Grace!

    Loved this in its imagery and emotion, full of a nature and love and native nobility.

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  34. So many lines, that it is impossible to choose which strikes me the most - for they all are as equal in imagery as they are sensuality.

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  35. Eagle, raven, seagulls, owl, coyote!! --rivers whisper, native drums beat and shatter!! All the textures of the narrator and the partner--fur and bud and sand and bark color touch sound sight

    Totally luscious!

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  36. Candles melting like the moon--lovely imagery--sensuous throughout

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  37. Really lovely, naturally lovely. I could smell the turning of wet leaves, and my heart fluttered at the romance.

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  38. Really lovely, naturally lovely. I could smell the turning of wet leaves, and my heart fluttered at the romance.

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  39. Lovely piece! the softness goes so well about love, romance and togetherness, Bearing names under the names of the mighty tree....wrapped like in silkworm....touch and go yet embraces in the warmth of love. A soulful piece Grace!

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  40. I Love how you wrote of natives and nature... such a beautiful combination.

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  41. Love the native american and forest images here and the mythological feel to this entire beautiful poem. Great write! ~jackie~

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  42. Let's climb the skies together -
    Let's feast with the candles melting like the moon -  ... i liked this a lot Grace... i really like the promise of eternity within these very lines... loved it... enjoy the trip & always keep safe... smiles...

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  43. Let's climb the sky together - very romantic!

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  44. Your wonderful images lend authenticity to the overall work. Nicely done. As one who also enjoys and sometimes composes poetry of native America, I applaud your efforts!

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  45. This is beautiful. Made me want to run to the woods. Very lovely and captivating.

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  46. It's amazing to me that you can write something so beautiful while on vacation. Guess relaxation is inspirational to you. Enjoy!

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  47. you really take me there with image after image...I felt a dry warmth, a desert under a night sky, soft breeze, beautiful.
    I really like this line,
    "I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home"
    I have an 'obsession' with trees.

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  48. Stunningly beautiful! Have a great vacation... :-)

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  49. loved that last couplet...

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  50. mystic and tender and I love the format you chose. well done, heaven.

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  51. Enjoy your vacation, my friend. You deserve it.

    I really enjoyed this line: "I will be the soft sands & sturdy bark you call home" - beautiful!!

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  52. Passionate, enchanting, captivating and more. I am extremely diverse in my background but my great grandmother was Seminole and if I did not know it (and perhaps it is so) I would think you are native American through and through. This is a beautiful write, each and every word.

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  53. very beautifully written heaven..
    the love, the sweet sugary feeling it has was well reflected..

    your post reminded me lines of John Donne..

    We can die by it, if not live by love,
    And if unfit for tombs and hearse
    Our legend be, it will be fit for verse;
    And if no piece of chronicle we prove,
    We'll build in sonnets pretty rooms;
    As well a well-wrought urn becomes
    The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,
    And by these hymns, all shall approve
    Us canonized for Love..


    Enjoy vacations dear !!

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Thanks for your visit and comments ~ I appreciate them ~