The word relocation means, we disappear.
When beliefs and traditions are deeply grounded not much will change them. This is especially true for older people. Remember the expression, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." The problem however, is the world keeps changing around them. They get left behind and feel all alone.
The poem I have written, Between Four Sacred Mountains, is about such a man. His Navajo name is, No Pony.
Reflection of Spirit
Between Four Sacred Mountains
No Pony unfolds in a lawn chair.
His red cowboy boots are stitched
with white horseshoes. One toes
a circle in coarse desert sand.
You are Earth Mother,
no one can own you.
His bandana, rolled wide, knots
near his temple. A shiver of stars
stampedes in the night.
You are my Sky Father
and I am your child.
A scatter of sheep, gathered home,
preach from their pen. No Pony
nods, touches the ground
and knows he is rich.
Wind flags his t-shirt. Beer sings
in the back of his throat.
He crushes each can.
They bounce off his trailer, reflect
the moon like the eyes of a cougar.
No Pony remembers his wife,
her fondness for Elvis and Cool
Ranch Doritos, the words to his sons
on the day of her death.
We are five fingered beings,
kin to coyotes and eagles.
Without this land,
we lose who we are.
His sons have moved on; one wears
a yellow hardhat, the other wears
trails behind iron bars.
No Pony turns lighter than air
from his drinking, floats into morning.
An orange sun explodes
on a cluster of white desert flowers.
He looks in his pocket,
pulls out a letter.
I am married and living in Huston,
come live with us.
No Pony doesn’t write back.
He was taught by his father,
the word relocation
means we disappear.
Between Four Sacred Mountains was first published in Pilgrimage Magazine.
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