I Became a Medicine Man 1
I the most daring and reckless of all
—Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca

I'm the sphinx on the pediment of sand looking east into the sun
              it began to rain and the sea toughened
                          after midnight the sound of many voices
                          tinkling little bells also flutes and tambourines
                          until the storm ceased
the way you come to a place thinking you won't stay long
              the little boat on treetops the disfiguring rocks
a place unfamiliar for years until one day it isn't
              they told me I could be of help by breathing on the sick
                          with that breath and my hands
                          drive ailments away
I lift a pen quickly from a page and without intention
yield an imprint of the almostthought
              the one who kept me said had I so much power
              I would not suffer so
                          arriving from the sea I was surely wiser
an armada of standing paddleboarders sometimes slides under
sunlight repents on the chop of water
              every stone in the field, heated, has its own use
                          can take away pain
              I cut open a breast with a stone knife the arrowhead
                          begged, the entire village lined up to touch it
elegantly what is here is not there
              in the ragged terms of the place a believing army
many adept at riding the waves
others in the deep troughs

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Copyright © 2021 Karen Kevorkian All rights reserved
from Quivira
3: A Taos Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission