Cave Painting
Hold the charcoal, black as bear,
make a mark on limestone walls.
Speak the words, rename your fear.
Send the sacred breath up in flame
as your kin huddle closer in the dark.
The aurochs comes to life.
Arrows fly, the great cat stalks.
What stories dance across the rock?
What songs fill this hollow space?
Let the way to the cave be like a child, lost
and mourned in the forest before songs
were silenced, before hands told lies.
Let rocks block the hole, keep the bison wild.
We strain to hear the echoes of this place.
Bone flute silent. Red ochre hums its trace.
An earlier version of this poem was first published in Perfume River Poetry Review 2013
make a mark on limestone walls.
Speak the words, rename your fear.
Send the sacred breath up in flame
as your kin huddle closer in the dark.
The aurochs comes to life.
Arrows fly, the great cat stalks.
What stories dance across the rock?
What songs fill this hollow space?
Let the way to the cave be like a child, lost
and mourned in the forest before songs
were silenced, before hands told lies.
Let rocks block the hole, keep the bison wild.
We strain to hear the echoes of this place.
Bone flute silent. Red ochre hums its trace.
An earlier version of this poem was first published in Perfume River Poetry Review 2013