Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser
Dedicated to Ky Scott with deep
gratitude for his gifts
Somewhere within you there is a totem pole
yawning and stretching in the first rays of
morning sunlight streaming
in yellows, golds, and blues
through splayed branch-fingers
into a quiet redwood forest glen.
Deeply grounded in plush mossy Earth,
this pole rises eighteen totem faces tall
to convene with the Sky Gods and
your Highest Self.
Ancients carved the pole from
The Great Tree
with intent and ancestral DNA
as fires and sage burned
and prayers that you would
one day understand
were offered
in abundance.
Paints of clay, shell, charcoal, and fish egg
leave little impression,
offer barely a hint
to the eye.
They once gleamed with meaning.
Much time has passed.
But this is a new day
and a new year in the relationship
of the Sun and his beloved Moon.
It is the day arrived
when prayers
will be answered.
Oh how The Great Carvers will rejoice!
It has been written –
the eyelids of even the most
weary-eyed Seer
can be opened by the heart-moistened
lips of Gratitude.
Alternating from
animal to man,
top to bottom,
the totems speak.
Raven, looking below, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Sea Turtle. looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Sea Turtle, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Hawk, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Hawk, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Wolf, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Wolf, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Frog, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Frog, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Hummingbird, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Hummingbird, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Salmon, looking up says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Salmon, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Heron, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Heron, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Bear, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
“Bear, looking down, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
Man, looking up, says:
“Trust that you are supported.”
Man, looking into the eyes
of their Mother, says:
“Thank you, I am honored
by your strength and devotion.”
And She replies with words that
she has longed for you to
truly hear:
“Trust that you are supported.”
And She looks into your eyes.
Now, it is your turn.
© 2010-2019/Jamie K. Reaser
Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out."
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