Poems of Love and Spirituality from Native America and other Indigenous Peoples

Index

Aztec

Love Song

I know not whether thou have been absent:

I lie down with thee, I rise up with thee,

In my dreams thou are with me.

If my eardrops tremble in my ears,

I know it is thou moving within my heart.

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Hopi

Yellow Butterflies
Yellow butterflies
Over the blossoming, virgin corn.
Water pollen-sprouted faces
Chase one another in brilliant throng.

Blue butterflies
Over the blossoming virgin beans
With pollen-painted faces
Chase one another in brilliant throng.

Over the blossoming corn,
Over the virgin corn
Wild bees hum;
Over the blossoming beans,
Over the virgin beans
Wild bees hum.

Over your field of growing corn,
All day shall hang the thundercloud,
Over your field of growing beans
All day shall come the rushing rain.

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Kwakiutl

Love Song of the Dead
You are hard-hearted against me,
You are hard-hearted against me, my dear;
You are cruel against me,
You are cruel against me, my dear.
For I am tired waiting for you
To come here, my dear!
Different shall now be my cry
For your sake, my dear.
Ah, I shall go down to the lower world,
And cry for you thou, my dear!

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Maori, New Zealand

Untitled

Tell it to the west,
Tell it to the south,
And to the north also;
Look at the stars above
And glance at the moon.
I am as the tattooed tree.
Say who is thy beloved
And let the scent of
The mokimoki plant
Give forth its sweetness
And foster those desires,
That in the midst
of waving plumes
I may a listener be.

Farewell to Life
Oh, how love has bound my heart
And kept me slave on this side of the river!
Oh, that a priest would enchantments use
And rid me of the love I feel!
How soon the tattoo-lines of Mata-ora
Would mark my face! But Tu-ki-rau
Has not left those to drive away
Those sycophants of northern race
And grieve my heart, and when
I, near to my home, stand erect,
Fast fall the teardrops
From my weeping lips.

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Navajo

Beautyway from The Night Chant

Tsegihi.

House made of dawn,

House made of evening light,

House made of dark cloud,

House made of male rain,

House made of dark mist,

House made of female rain,

House made of pollen,

House made of grasshoppers,

Dark cloud is at the door.

The trail out of it is dark cloud.

The zigzag lightning stands high upon it.

Male deity!

Your offering I make.

I have prepared smoke for you.

Restore my feet for me,

Restore my legs for me,

Restore my body for me,

Restore my mind for me,

Restore my voice for me.

This very day take out your spell for me

Your spell remove for me.

You have taken it away for me;

Far off it has gone.

Happily I recover.

Happily my interior becomes cool.

Happily I go forth.

My interior feeling cool, may I walk.

No longer sore, may I walk.

Impervious to pain, may I walk.

With lively feelings, may I walk.

As it used to be long ago, may I walk.

Happily may I walk.

Happily, with abundant dark clouds, may I walk.

Happily, with abundant showers, may I walk.

Happily, with abundant plants, may I walk.

Happily, on a trail of pollen, may I walk.

Happily may I walk.

Being as it used to be long ago, may I walk.

May it be beautiful before me,

May it be beautiful behind me,

May it be beautiful below me,

May it be beautiful above me,

May it be beautiful all around me.

In beauty it is finished.

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Oglala Sioux

We Must Part

Many are the youths indeed,
But thou alone art pleasing to me;
You, O Chief, I love
But we must part.
And long will be the time!

Friendship
Friend, whatever hardships threaten
If thou call me,
I'll befriend thee;
All-enduring, fearlessly,
I'll befriend thee.

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Ojibwa

A Woman’s Song

You are walking around

Trying to remember

What you promised

But you can’t remember.

Untitled
As my eyes
Search
The prairie
I feel the summer in the spring.

Untitled
A loon I thought it was,
But it was
My lovers'
Splashing oar.

To Sault Ste Marie
He has departed.
My love
Has gone on before me.
Never again
Can I see him.

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Pima

Untitled

The evening glow yet lingers,
The evening glow yet lingers.
And I sit with my gourd rattle
Engaged in the sacred chant.
As I wave the eagle feathers
We hear the magic sounding.

The strong night is shaking me,
Just as once before he did
When in spirit I was taken
To the great magician's house.

Untitled

Pitiable harlot though I am,
My heart glows with the singing
While the evening yet is young.
My heart glows with the singing.

Untitled
I ran into the swamp confused.
There I heard the tadpoles sing.
I ran into the swamp confused.
Where the bark-clothed tadpoles sing.

In the west the dragonfly wanders,
Skimming the surface of the pools,
Touching only with his tail. He skims
With flapping and rustling wings.

Thence I ran as the darkness gathers,
Wearing cactus flowers in my hair.
Thence I ran as the darkness gathers
In fluttering darkness to the singing-place.

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Mangaia, Polynesia

Untitled

The bright sunbeams
Shoot down upon
Tauwaea, whose
Lofty ridge veils thee from
My sight, O Amo, my beloved.
Leave me that my eyes
May grieve, and that
They may unceasingly mourn,
For soon I must descend
To the dark shore --
To my beloved who has gone before.

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Wabanabi

Now I am Left

Now I am left on this lonely island to die—

No one to hear the sound of my voice.

Who will bury me when I die?

Who will sing my death-song for me?

My false friends leave me here to die alone;

Like a wild beast, I am left on this island to die.

I wish the wind spirit would carry my cry to my love!

My love is as swift as the deer;

He would speed through the forest to find me;

Now I am left on this lonely island to die.

I wish the spirit of air

Would carry my breath to my love

My love’s canoe, like the sunlight,

Would shoot through the water to my side.

But I am left on this lonely island to die,

With no one to pity me but the little birds.

My love is brave and strong;

But, when he hears my fate,

His stout heart will break;

And I am on this lonely island to die.

Now the night comes on

And all Is silent but the owl;’

He sings a mournful song to his mate,

In pity for me.

I will try to sleep.

I wish the night spirit to hear my song;

He will tell my love of my fate;

And when I awake,

I shall see the one I love

I am on this lonely island to die

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