beneath the smiling raven’s shadow
the poet-girl wore turquoise and feathers
around her neck like a dream catcher

her hair, darker than his feathers.
when she whispered poetry, he listened
for her ancestor’s spirits on the breeze

her silence lifted his wings
to circle above. in perfect syncopation
her body danced in his shadow
as it twisted in and out
of the long autumn sun

a single caw recalled her song
– the joyful celebration of elk bones
and the great turtle swimming away

a second caw forgot her song
– a gentle push of feather upward –
her spirit guide was gone.

in the intensity of sunlight
brittle morning cold, she
thumbed the turquoise necklace
stoked the embers to flame
alone.