Burrow into soil you know as safety, she will cradle you,
keep you safe from tricksters in life. Listen to their stealthy
stalk above you, around you, while you patiently wait
their leaving. Come, sister of a hundred wombs,
who assures continuance of motherhood at your own peril.
Yes we fall victim to perils, but you teach us to carry on;
to dance in the meadows when dancing is safe.
Teach me not to let fear hold me quivering
in grasses and dark caves. Let me know those
who turn their hand and paw and claw and beak
to our vulnerable grounds. Dance me into dreams
that help me grow in sacrifice of all that I hold dear
and make me a star-hopper out of sheer faith
in more than this green grass and greening earth.
You are my sure sign of surrender to fate.
Author notes
for Mountain Daughter
Navajo knowledge of the sky
Imagine, in slow motion, a rabbit making tracks as he is chased by a bobcat, coyote or other hunter in the hills. See how he plants his front paws on the ground, one after the other in a line. He leaps, and his two back feet come down together, side by side in front of the line of the first two prints. He leaps again and again to repeat the pattern, over and over. Any expert in tracking will recognize rabbit tracks right away, and he will easily recognize them once he finds them in the sky. The pattern of stars at the tail of Scorpius is a perfect rendering of a set of rabbit tracks. Go out and find them. Commit them to memory. Then look for them in the sand and snow.
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Comments
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Beautiful
That is such a wonderful and interesting write! I never knew about the astrological aspect of these tracks. That is super of you to share this poem and the facts too, Don
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WOW, very lovely. I was just telling my friend Deepa that you would be writing a poem for me on rabbits. She has two male rabbits as pets and loves them a lot. I promised to share this poem with her and will do so first thing tomorrow when we meet. Loved the lesson here on rabbit totem and the imagery is beautiful. Beautiful assonance and alliteration. Thank you so much for writing this for me.
Love always,
Charishma
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