Bawating*
A chill air
wakes summer warmed waters
into a weave
of mists
as tentacles
of time
tempt the
ghosts of a thousand yesterdays
to rise up and
greet the dawn.
Warriors in
wisps and white feathers
and slivery maidens
with hair of
corn silken silver
milked from
the moon
join in a
dance of remembrance.
But their
fires burn cold
and soft
with flames
of quicksilver
like minnows
swimming skyward
and smoke of
earthbound clouds.
XxXxX
*According
to Wikipedia and a Sault St Marie casino’s web site (?) Bawating is a Chippewa word meaning “gathering place.” I will
investigate further…. But I chose that word for a title, because the area that
inspired this poem is in Hamburg Township, Michigan, which near as I can tell was
a Chippewa gathering place and hunting grounds. To my understanding, this area
was not a place of permanent residence until the current townships were formed
in the early to mid 1800s.
