Saturday, September 17, 2016

A Windigo Wind



A Windigo wind blows across the land,
warning us that we have been taking
more than we need,
and putting nothing back.
It is trying to tell us
we need to go back
to the Old Times,
when man and nature
lived in harmony,
and no action was taken
without consideration for 
the seventh generation.

A big black wolf is wandering
through my dreams and through my heart,
wolf spirit,
Windigo of the wolf clan,
howling a lament
at the destruction
of his habitat,
the starvation of his young,
the extinction
of his tribe.

I am swimming a wide river,
farther than I have
the strength to go,
when, under me,
lifts the body of a great turtle,
who supports me to
the farther shore.

I am lost at sea in a thick fog
and cannot find home
when a pod of killer whales,
sensing my distress telepathically,
encircles my boat
and guides me to shore,
to my own dock,
then glides silently
into the night
and away.

Nature tries to help us.
Creatures show us the way.
But in our noise and clamor,
in the tumult of our souls,
we cannot hear them.

The forest is deep and dark,
and there are spirits here.
I look, and look again,
and all the trees are rearranged.
Shapeshifters, shadows,
flit from tree to tree, 
and a mournful Windigo wind
sings through the branches.

Owl, Oracle, Guardian,
protect me as I go.


A poem from 2013, shared with the Poetry Pantry at  Poets United.

* In the film, The Great Wind, Windigo, punishes a young man for his greed, for wanting more than he needs. Wikipedia describes a Windigo as a legend of the Algonquin people, a cannabalistic spirit that can possess humans in times of famine and who is to be guarded against.

The event with the killer whales really happened to an inspiring woman I met once,  who lives among the whales in Simoon Sound. Alexandra Morton has dedicated her life to the well being of the whales and to raising the alarm about how fish farms endanger wild salmon habitat.

24 comments:

  1. Humankind had not only been unfair but unperturbed at the attrition or wanton destruction of nature. Nature on the other hand had been helpful perhaps clamoring for a voice of support. Very true Sherry!

    Hank

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  2. Wow, wonderful writing. As Hank says, we are not only unaware but actively destructive. If only we could go back to our earlier understanding!

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  3. I hear the voice of the speaker and the melody..humanity is possessed..feel the ache..

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  4. Wondeful writing, Sherry......
    The forest is deep and dark,
    and there are spirits here.
    I look, and look again,
    and all the trees are rearranged.
    Shapeshifters, shadows,
    flit from tree to tree,
    and a mournful Windigo wind
    sings through the branches.......love the image too.

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  5. It's amazing how the forest and the sea come alive in your poem..shapeshifting trees, wind and turtles...all moving before my eyes.

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  6. The forest is deep and dark,
    and there are spirits here.
    I look, and look again,
    and all the trees are rearranged.
    Shapeshifters, shadows,
    flit from tree to tree,
    and a mournful Windigo wind
    sings through the branches.

    Sigh.. such vivid images here, I can almost picture the scene 💖 Beautifully penned.

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  7. How apt this is Sherry as here in Australia they are thinking of drilling the Great Australian Bight for oil where whales overwinter and have their calves. Curiously I also wrote a poem posted elsewhere on the subject this weekend.

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  8. It's interesting before i read the postscript I saw the Windigo wind as an overseer both wise and protective of its chicks.. maybe wise guardians require wise followers

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  9. If we respect our environment, things will be better indeed. we ourselves would be better humans. There is a lot of anguish in your gentle poet voice

    happy Sunday Sherry

    much love...

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  10. Nature has been abused for so long, but luckily there are wise voices who speak up...

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  11. I do love the sense that nature is trying to help us... maybe it only takes to listen and act to make things good again.. we have done it before actually.

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  12. You never fail to amaze! Thank you Sherry!

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  13. I got 3 messages in 1 poem. These messages unite to give a a reader the final thought. Well done

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  14. Nature does try to guide us as do the creatures of the land. If only we would listen. There are spirits there and they watch and wait.

    I am glad you brought this one out to share.

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  15. In classical poems the nature always punish those who destroy the balance on planet. Your poem and supporting resources - such a stella to bridge between past and future, remembering to respect the wildlife in present. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. We are so lost from our true selves and you word and image it so brilliantly here Sherry. I fear for the future of the earth and its creatures...bkm

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  17. You've nailed it again, Sherry: another one of your lovely pieces embracing nature and heralding the cause of environmentalism. I,too, believe that there are spirits in the forests. Lately I have come across a number of studies that have empirical evidence that trees - TREES !!! - possess a number of qualities that most people do not credit them with - including feelings. Fascinating stuff! It does give one pause. If trees can feel pain - what of the forest creatures?

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  18. Trees CAN and do feel pain and fear, Wendy. And the forest creatures feel all that we feel - love of life, happiness, fear, terror, struggle, hunger, a struggle to survive. Sigh.I know that studies have shown that water changes its molecular structure in response to emotions, whether positive or negative. And I saw a plant once shudder with fear when my kids, playing a game, screamed right beside it. I had to mist it with water and soothe it. Truth.

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  19. it is human voices like yours that must be spoken must be heard incessantly and continuously, like a mantra blowing in with the Windigo Wind. my soul is constantly singing this mantra sharing it with the Lakota and all its other brother and sister tribes presently in North Dakota. the distractions to the potential human cost to society because of one of our political candidates south of the border from you has disrupted my inner song because of the disturbance. this is wonderful mi amiga. sing on, let us 'all' here your voice.

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  20. Sherry, this is a potent warning. At first, since I am not familiar with Windigo, I thought perhaps you created the character from the Wind of change and the ancient color, indigo. The situation with tribal peoples in Dakota is certainly on my mind as I read this. Human greed seems to know no bounds in the US, and the same seems to be the case in Canada - despite your winning the Prime Minister derby in so many ways, Trudeau being marvelous, and we USers faced with the prospect of an orange algae bloom as our leader!!! Love this, and thx for stopping by. Amy

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  21. Your poem leaves me breathless...and wanting to be lifted on a turtle's back, or to be soaring with an eagle...

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  22. the cloud darkens, doesn't it, Sherry? ~

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  23. Another exceptional work of 'art' in your prose.
    I was right there, with you at all times! So vivid a picture you create.

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