Nebi
… this is the river I belong to…
Polin, Abenaki leader 1739
We breathe
the traveling clouds
and drink what falls
glistening from cliffs
and into whirlpool
basins carved in granite
on its way back to sky
water me
glisten me
carve and
whirlpool me
cascade me
white water me
sing me babble me
pool me pond me
swamp me
bog me
trout and salmon me
frog and dragonfly me
loon and otter me
breathe me
the humid sky
while leaves
gather pools
of summer air
Nebi we say
wligonebi
the water is good
Copyright Credit: Cheryl Savageau, "Nebi" from Yellow Medicine Review, Fall 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Cheryl Savageau. Reprinted by permission of Cheryl Savageau.
Source: Yellow Medicine Review (Yellow Medicine Review, 2012)