Fragments of Light

Blue luster radiates under Divine Darkness’s blanket.

Golden light glares from brightened hallways,

seeping through the threshold as shadows walk past

and eyelids close tighter. Fragments of broken glass

glisten while Spider Woman spins her crystalline webs—

soft knocks at the door, and Shinálí rouses me

from a deep slumber entwined in the ancestral plane.

ii.

A scuffed metal head gleams under Jóhonaa’éí

while fingers clutch the plastic yellow handle,

tight as a guarded secret. The old, dirty ax rises

to strike wood. Breath after breath, ore bites

into pine stumps. Sweat gathers on the back,

soaking an oversized sweater.

iii.

Shá bitł’óół gazes into many twinkling eyes of quartz

as canyon walls unveil hues of crimson

and burnt orange. Heavy breaths linger,

moistening rugged stones. Above, clouds drape

the sky, where bright blue dissipates behind

dark clouds and rain beads along brows. Stand

on rocky edges as flooding waters roar. Wait for

the squall’s wrath to carry guilt’s weight.

iv.

A flash of white, lightning threads the nightosphere

as thunder breathes heavy like animal hide humming

from drums pounding through the midnight hour.

Drizzles of Male Rain cascade like dark strands

unraveling from a tsiiyééł. Vivid droplets in night’s cover

brush strokes revealing sheen. Rain taps rhythmically

on the window as eyelids close.