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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HOPI SNAKE DANCE, by J. MORRIS RICHARDS First Line: Waiting, uncomfortably waiting Last Line: Some lonely butte or hill. Subject(s): Native Americans - Religion | |||
Waiting, uncomfortably waiting -- Waiting for the painted snake-priests. Now they enter, stamping dancers -- Corn-meal prayer-makers shaking rattles, beating tom-toms. Circling natives, stamping snake-priests, sacred meal of corn. Slowly bending, softly chanting -- prayer of heathens, Prayer for water. Endless weaving to and fro In a fervent prayer for rain. Circling snake-priests, wriggling serpents, Mouthy monsters, cold blood-twisters, Teeth-marked coilers, magic feathers, sacred meal. Round and back, stamping still. Ever-serious Well-taught Indians, keepers of a sacred lore. Whispered wishes and instructions To the messengers of Hades -- to the carriers Of the tidings to the rain-gods in the heavens -- To the fountain and the spring-gods Deep beneath some sheltered mountain, butte or hill. Thus it is a prayer for water, for the life of dying nature; "Water, water" -- desert savior for the ever-thirsty corn-field. For the sandy peach-tree orchard, for the bean-patch And the scarecrow, for the buttes and ragged mesas Send this life to patient Red Men -- Earnest pleaders for their withered tribe. Fettered reptiles, coils entangled, Twisting, squirming, seeking freedom. Once enmassed, exchanging tidings. Gathered. Scattered. Given freedom -- On to seek the gods of heaven far beneath some lonely mesa -- Some lonely butte or hill. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FROM THE NORTHWEST COAST: YA-IHL'S SONG TO THE NORTH WIND by ALICE HENSON ERNST THE VICTORY OF FAITH by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON THE ARCTIC INDIAN'S FAITH by THOMAS D'ARCY MCGEE THE MOHEGAN CHURCH by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY MOUNT AGIOCHOOK by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER EAGLE SONNETS: 3 by CLEMENT WOOD EAGLE SONNETS: 4 by CLEMENT WOOD |
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