Author Information
Vision Quest
Folder:
Cowboy Poetry Rocky Ledge,
high above a vast canyon,
bronzed man sits,
legs folded, eyes closed,
arms outstretched and waiting.
He entered the dream then,
awake, alert,
his surroundings fell away
and he spiraled downward,
yet into the sky.
His arms became wings,
fingers-talons,
his mouth, a beak
as words spilled out
in eagle's tongue.
Soaring high above the lands
of his ancestors,
he watched their slow
destruction,
saw the mighty tatonka defeated,
witnessed the slaughter
of entire races, entire tribes.
Screaming a caw of utter anguish,
he swooped low
to gather his people
close into his wings.
Flying away, off to nowhere,
he traveled the skies,
in search of a sanctuary,
a place to set down
and begin anew.
He could find no parcel of land
untouched by those that had come,
so he flew onward into forever,
always protecting those
he tucked into his wings.
Sweat glistened on his form,
his breathing came in ragged gasps
and a sob escaped his lips.
The vision cleared
as time returned him once again
to the rocky ledge,
tears in his eyes
and an eagle feather
in his palm.
