Monday, April 23, 2007

Rantidote

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," where today we pause briefly to be serious.
Don't worry. It's a passing thing.

Today I was substitute teaching in an English class for high school juniors. The textbook was on the teacher's desk. It was American literature.

During my prep period, I thumbed through the Table of Contents. And what to my wondering eyes did appear...

Song Concerning a Dream of the Thunderbirds
Origin: Teton Sioux

Friends, behold!

Sacred I have been made.

Friends, behold!

In a sacred manner

I have been influenced

At the gathering of the clouds.

Sacred I have been made.

Friends, behold!

Sacred I have been made.


FROM ANNE
THE MERLIN OF BERKELEY SPRINGS

5 comments:

Athana said...

We Westerners have been crippled when it comes to the divine. The 'enlightened' among us need to find our way back to the source any way we can. Your way seems to be through buzzards and birds, anne. Through birds, I think you're finding your way back. More power to you! Blessings!

Tennessee Jed said...

Why does that poem seem to fit the way things are?

BBC said...

English is a piece of shit with too many word smiths screwing with it.

Just saying.

Anntichrist S. Coulter said...

I always thought that "thunderbirds" were mythical eagles, supersized like condors, but with the predatory raptor head, not the antiquated/dinosaur head of the condor/buzzard/vulture family.

Granted, it's been a long time since I've read any SW NDN lit/poetry, but I'm just going from what I remember reading as a kid.

Rosie said...

There was a crazy old fellow who lived up here who claimed to have seen one over his mountain. Keeping in mind that the thunderbird is to the sacred golden purifier what the C-5 is to mid sized passenger plane. We all thought he was nuts, but in a really nice way.