I Danced In The Circle Of Life

When my Cherokee mother died

I danced in the circle of life

At the Mohican Campgrounds

It was the my first pow wow

My sister and I looked into the sky

As the mighty eagle soared on high

It was a good sign

On her deathbed we placed a dreamcatcher

Hung it in her window at hospice

I held her close in my arms

Asked her to please open her eyes

Just one more time

But the morphine kept her asleep

I shall always remember her dark Cherokee eyes

Soft and gentle like the rain

Sometimes filled with sorrow and pain

My mothers eyes once came to me

In a dream and through the eyes of her soul

She speaks to me

I made her a promise

My word I have kept to this very day

When my french father died

I sat by his bedside and I told him it was okay

He said he had to go home

To be with my mom

It was his time

I was sad and distraught

I witnessed his pet cat as she lay beside him

Unwilling to leave him not even to eat

She stayed with him for nearly a week

Until his spirit left his body

My sister still holds their ashes

I long to let them go

Along with my son

To the top of Cherokee Mountain

Where I know they will be set free

This is my native american dream

In my minds eye

You are there with me

Not only in my dreams

But in reality

For it is not good for a woman to walk alone

She needs a true friend to console her tears

One who holds good medicine

One who cares

I am a grandmother

A sister of the moon

A daughter of the earth

For all that it's worth this is who I am

 

 

Reviews

[Norma M Sutton]

This is painfully beautiful and well written.

[R Lee Cline]

I was just in a conversation this morning with someone, with a lot more Native American blood than I have, about the circle of life. I plan on learning more about it and your heart felt poem really moved me. Great job...Lee