what's in a name ???

Departing Vancouver International Airport

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

I knelt on the dirt floor of the cabin

       and asked the elders for my name

They in turn asked the wind & sky

       to measure the breath & bones of me    

They looked north for brightest stars

       and wingspan reach of the eagles,

Claw prints of the bear & coal eyes of ravens

       for spirit of man & animals are one & the same  

Listening to the full moon's tide song,

      they meditated on my purpose in life

Finally, in a dream, my name came- 

      whispered by the giant spruce trees

My name is bestowed, entwining my spirit

      & flesh, sweetgrass is ceremoniously burned

A pipe is solemnly passed from one to another 

      While plums & grapes piled ripe on wooden table

    

Drawing close my fur beaded in red & black,

       I draw circles & lines that connect me to the roots

Of our Turtle Islands, of all women:

       My tongue rolls my name – storyteller. 

Inspiration:  Nokomis – She is an Ojibwa artist and storyteller who grew up in the bush north of Lake Superior more than seventy years ago.    

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - every Tuesday