"Rebirth" by Carolynne Harris

I'm pleased to share this poem by my friend Carolynne Harris. In the copy she shared with me, her lines were more creatively spaced on the page, but blogspot doesn't cooperate when I try to do the same. I have, however, kept my formatting true to her original stanzas.


Rebirth


Across Clark Creek
women walk a winding trail.
A shroud of morning fog hovers
on Puyallup Sacred Ground.

Plump, ripe blackberries
satisfy Alaskan appetites.

A roaring open fire holds
large Green River rocks.

Women shed
     jewelry
          clothing
                inhibitions.
They enter the igloo-like
sweatlodge backwards.

A circle hollowed
in the hard packed earthen floor
holds firey rocks.

The Sweatlodge door is closed.

Cedar, sage and water
on smoking rocks–
makes fragrant steam.

Outside a circle forms
around the fire.
A holy sharing circle.
Women meditate alone
together.

The sun breaks
through the fog.
The great Mount Rainier
rises from the earth.
Song birds sing.
A hawk circles.
A kitten cuddles with a child.
A frog chants.
The fire crackles.

Prayerful songs within
fill ears without.

The sweatlodge door is opened.

Women emerge as from the womb.
Rebirth.


                By Carolynne Harris