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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

When the World Was Young




In the lifetime before the lifetime before this one,
and again the lifetime before that,
I danced under the blue sky at the sundance,
when I and the world were young.

The beat of the drum sang in my blood
and my feet moved in joy,
and I danced
and I danced
as if it would last forever,
when I and the world were young.

The Old Ones smiled on me
with kind eyes, but with sadness, too,
for their dreams foresaw suffering
for the people.

Over in the meadow, grey wolves flitted
in and out among the Standing People, 
paws prancing high,
and the backs of the buffalo 
carpeted the earth
in the days
when I and the world were young.

And now I live again, 
in an alien skin,
in a world grown cold.
The buffalo are gone and all that moves
is made of metal.
And I am an Old One 
with kind, sad eyes,
watching the young dance 
in a world gone mad,
and the ancient spirits are crying still,
remembering the days of 
dancing under the sun
when they and I 
and the world were young.


I wrote this poem last year at this time after attending a concert at a First Nations school here in town. The young fellow above was one of the children dancing as animals, birds and whales. The dance was titled Everything Is One: what happens to one, happens to all. A concept First Nations people understand very well.

Shared with the day Tuesday Platform  at Real Toads. Happy holidays, fellow toads!




15 comments:

  1. This evokes a sensation very similar to what I feel when I see the artwork of our own Native Americans. The pride of heritage with these people is a lot stronger than all of the moving metal in the new world.

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  2. remembering the days of
    dancing under the sun
    when they and I
    and the world were young -
    GREAT LINES
    Great Poem

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  3. I know you wrote this poem a year ago, but still... It seems that our souls have been listening to the same music. I read your title, and smiled... I continued reading, and began to laugh. For your words, have been dancing in my heart today. With the Solstice, with the state of the world, with all that has been lost, and with we might have to do to get it back.

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  4. ...when I was young - and now an Old one watching. And I'm sure with every youthful age, there have always been old sad one's watching on - and yet the world finds a way...

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  5. The young here evokes a sense of innocence - of something lost. If we could just find that youth again.

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  6. This made me want to leave my hair open and start dancing to the rhythm of life :)

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  7. watching the young dance
    in a world gone mad,

    The young are not aware nor bothered in the changing landscape they found themselves in.

    Hank

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  8. All we can do is keep dancing and working for a future where the world will remember its soul again.

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  9. I remember this poem well. I take hope in the message that man can find union with nature.

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  10. This is so beautiful Sherry, maybe one of my favorites! I find I am an "old one" now with old eyes. Hugs!

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  11. We have lost so much. I am going inward to feed my spirit earth songs. I am trying to not let the black hole we've become swallow me.

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  12. Sometimes I fantasize that I was a redskin, partly. We like going to the pow wows.
    ..

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  13. Sherry, this is so sad and lovely. Your refrain will stay with me.

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  14. "In the lifetime before the lifetime before this one,
    and again the lifetime before that,
    I danced under the blue sky at the sundance,"

    Luv that meditation and immersion into self and being

    • ★ Merry ★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
    •。★ Christmas 。* 。
    ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚| 田田 |門| ˚And a Happy New Year
    * Joy to all! ♫•*¨* Peace on Earth ♪♫•*¨*


    much love...

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