Navajo Mountain - Norla Chee

[Lawrence Robinson]

Navajo Mountain 

If you close your eyes 
and take a deep breath 
you can hear the green sage sing 

The gray stones beneath you 
feel young again 
The breeze watches 
it all with her Mona Lisa smile 

Naatsis’áán takes it all in 

The thunder of a hundred hooves, 
whoops and hollers of the crowd, 
the intensity of the riders 
as in the day of wild warriors  
on the warpath. 

There are chicken pulls, children’s foot races, 
Navajo cake, kneel-down bread, drum songs 

K’é shakes the roots of the mountain, 
which gives the people her blessing 

as does Sun God 
with gentle warm breath. 

The story I heard 
was that the people 
returned from Hwéeldi
and found strangers in their home. 

Ashiih Litso just a boy, risked everything 
on one horse race 
and was blessed by the Holy People. 

Another story goes that the mountain protected the people, 
keeping soldiers away 
and they never had to make the Long Walk. 

Whichever story you live by, 
the mountain remembers. 
Eehaniih celebrates her, 
head of the earth.

	- Norla Chee
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/poetrylovers/attachments/20251203/eda25945/attachment.htm>