caught in the swallow of a hand.
Green corn gourd shake women follow
ribbons, and a man
bloodlets bygones be bygones
as fasting turns to feast
and Stomp Dance - those sacred steps
carried secret from the east.
***
Process Note Longer Than The Actual Poem: The Native Americans had names for the full moons. These names varied from tribe to tribe, of course. The August full moon is known as the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Red Moon, and the Green Corn Moon (among others).
Among the southeastern tribes (Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole, etc.) there is a ceremony known as the Green Corn Ceremony. It is sort of a celebration, thanksgiving, religious cleansing all rolled into one. Details vary widely from tribe to tribe, but, in general, there is fasting and purging (the Busk), gourd shaking, ribbon dancing by the women and children, Stomp Dancing by the men, and feasting. Some tribes do ceremonial blood letting by scratching the arms and legs. Some tribes forgive all crimes (excluding murder) committed the previous year.
As I'm sure you all know, the southeastern tribes mentioned above were "removed" to Oklahoma in the 1800s. Tribes still perform the Green Corn Ceremony here. However (as far as I know), these ceremonies remain secretive and closed to the public.
My poem combines elements from different tribes and is not intended to be historically accurate.
For Izy's prompt at Real Toads
21 comments:
Of course I'm partial to June's Strawberry moon, but I find all the myths associated with Native American moons to be fascinating. I love how you selected exactly the elements which spoke to you in creating this piece.
I love this with your incorporation of the native names for the moons. Lovely!
You've used the run-on nature of some of your descriptive/action lines to really give immediacy and a sense of what for lack of a better word I'll call spirituality to the rituals you describe, and what they represent, something that is at the heart of being human in the natural world, something that we replacers of the old ways have forgotten, and for the lack of which we suffer. The notes were definitely as interesting as the poem, but I believe it could just as easily stand alone.
I, of course, am fascinated by process notes.
I also have many friends among the Canadian First Nations people, so I enjoyed your poem a great deal.
K
Beautiful!!
Your process notes are so interesting. Thanks for sharing your process with everyone.
'caught in the swallow of a hand'
love that image, MZ. and thanks for the notes - I learned new stuff ~ M
Wonderful, MZ! Love stomp dance! I appreciate your process notes, so interesting. :)
This is wonderful, MZ. I am always impressed with the variety of subjects about which you write...and your variety of styles.
this is pretty cool...we used to have a tribe that did a big pow wow by the college i went to...i was always rather fascinated by the rituals they did allow us to see....
Did you know that the Asscratchy Tribe of the Arkansota plains had a custom of writing out the song of their people in horse dung? Their biggest fans were a group of settlers called The Literalists, who ate it up. Honest.
... impossibly wonderful!
The rhythm and rhyme add so well to the content drawn from Native American heritage.
I sucked in my breath at the beauty of this poem, sighed with understanding and appreciation over the end notes... and then gafawed at Fireblossom's comment. :)
I enjoyed the poem, but especially loved your process notes. I hope for a resurgence of these practices, and teaching of the younger generations, so they never are lost.
MZ: stunning piece here. Even without the process notes, you captured something beyond elemental. I heart this! Thanks for participating in the out of standard!!!
Love the poem and the process notes. I lived in Oklahoma for 9 years, my youngest still lives there in Tulsa...so familiar with the Trail of Tears.
Such absolutely terrific sound here -it is a stomp dance of consonants and concepts and core values - very cool. k.
wow.
Special, poem is fantastic and I Love the factual history bit
This is a powerful distillation of Native American rites. Beautifully done. I love the way you cut to the bone, and dispose of all that is not essential.
Very cool poem, and thank you for the history lesson! FB should be a professor, she's so learned!
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