A flaming bundle of juniper twigs,
Carried in the hands
Through the desert night,
Starting new campfires on the earth.
In the charcoal and ashes
Coils a rattlesnake,
Runs a bear.
The people chase the deer down on foot
Until,exhausted, it drops;
Then the medicine man
Bends over him,
And lovingly blows
Corn pollen down his throat,
Till he chokes,
Sacrificed without loss of blood.
Who among us
Is the skinwalker,
The demon in disguise?
Oh do not open the door when he knocks.
A woman’s hands are grinding
The corn to white sunlight
On a stone.
America,before you had a name,
Your destiny was written
In the rocks and waters;
Before there were men,
You were populated with gods.
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