The woman of the deep woods now lives in our home, a gift from a lovely friend.

WEST VIRGINIA PROMISE

Come Back, She said
Where the creek water
Days are long,
Green in the undergowth,
Green in the pines,

She said, listen for
The snake rattle,
Smell the copper cucumber,
Hear the rustle of the Hoop myth
Threading down a path
Green as nettle,

She said, see the sun whisper
On the hills that
Are your children,
Loved like babes you cradle,
Green in the maple,

She said, the days will change
Again to Green like innocence,
The sacred space will render
Its new skin

Like morning,
Green among the fiddle ferns,
Green among the new leaf,
Green as a March wind.


I wrote this medicine poem: January 10, 2004 nearly midnight.

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