Shiwanna (1) (cont’d)
The rain priest of Hawikuh has
one nephew just past his seventh winter,
his youngest sister’s child & the one
he favors to succeed him. At his suggestion
they bring the boy into the kiva,
turn him naked in a circle
& sixteen pairs of eyes can find
no mark or scar. They ask him
Will you do this for the People, for Shiwanna?
It’s dangerous! But he says Yes.
They turn him to face each of the six
cardinal points, including zenith
& nadir, have him lie down on
a deerskin pelt & drink the acrid
tea of sacred Datura.
His breath slows, goes south:
A place where the mountains smoke
he murmurs.
Corpses bob in every lake & river
while the living men women even children
dig tunnels quick as hungry shrews
hollow out the hearts of hills
leaving fields fallow lousy with weeds
the Corn Maidens wander in circles dizzy
as the last ears turn sour in the storerooms
only a few men have food
but they too go at it with a crazy haste
eating it seems on behalf of all the others
whose teeth rattle in rotten gums
can you hear them
scrambling down ladders deep in the ground
as if to reverse the Emergence
while some of the eaters go about
in great folds of cloth like moving mountains
hidden except for their hands & heads
shaved crowns glowing pink
an albino’s ensorcelled eye
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Cibola 1
- Cibola 2
- Cibola 3
- Cibola 4
- Cibola 5
- Cibola 6
- Cibola 7
- Cibola 8
- Cibola 9
- Cibola 10
- Cibola 11
- Cibola 12
- Cibola 13
- Cibola 14
- Cibola 15
- Cibola 16
- Cibola 17
- Cibola 18
- Cibola 19
- Cibola 20
- Cibola 21
- Cibola 22
- Cibola 23
- Cibola 24
- Cibola 25
- Cibola 26
- Cibola 27
- Cibola 28
- Cibola 29
- Cibola 30
- Cibola 31
- Cibola 32
- Cibola 33
- Cibola 34
- Cibola 35
- Cibola 37
- Cibola 38
- Cibola 36
- Cibola 40
- Cibola 41
- Cibola 42
- Cibola 43
- Cibola 44
- Cibola 45
- Cibola 46
- Cibola 47
- Cibola 48
- Cibola 49
- Cibola 50
- Cibola 51
- Cibola 52
- Cibola 53
- Cibola 54
- Cibola 55
- Cibola 56
- Cibola 57
- Cibola 58
- Cibola 59
- Cibola 60
- Cibola 61
- Cibola 62
- Cibola 63
- Cibola 64
- Cibola 65
- Cibola 66
- Cibola 67
- Cibola 68
- Cibola 69
- Cibola 70
- Cibola 71
- Cibola 72
- Cibola 73
- Cibola 74
- Cibola 75
- Cibola 76
