Of the Rock Pocket People

with Heather and Ora
on a cold January day


So we navigated
From the south end
Of the Mall past the
Air and Space Museum
And then we alit
From the Honda

Fellow travelers with
Child rearing years
In the rear view mirror
Though child like
All the same
We encountered
An Ojibwe canoe
And central Arctic kayak
In the vast interior

Only slowly learning
To articulate
The latent manifesto
Of the poem indwelling
In such wide open spaces

Aligned dead center
In the nested circles
Of concentric rings
I felt there the
Indelible spirit
Of the tribe from
Whence I came
Captured by means
A vaulted ceiling
And the stones heavy
In my pocket’s bottom

Of brotherhood
And sisterhood
I mean to sing
These being the feelings
Most concentric
To the heart of
Any human being