when i walk on two legs i feel nothing intruder blindfolded fool of the world if i crawl like an ancestor chest to the ground feel the earthbeat, make it my own mother’s love flows in this valley swimming in shadows white sapling and raspberry cover thirsty for her, i must find her wander the blackjack follow rockweed paths, follow the clover tree moss and columbine into the cold river i drink and she fills me sunset explodes the sky white water catches fire i see it feel it but i traded my language for the soul of a wakan so i can’t speak it but for the hair of my neck and growing glow of my eyes everything alive mist chasing rain stars on frozen snow bluespruce and sage the way the redtail lands on a tree limb and folds his wings perfect balanced song of the summer reeds and the taste of the river to walk on two legs is to die i will never i will never
posted for earthweal “dreaming in green”
jalopy dreams 
Love the way that ends. And this: “tree moss and columbine / into the cold river / i drink / and sunset explodes the sky”
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❤
I love this.
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“if i crawl like an ancestor
chest to the ground
feel the earthbeat, make it my own
mother’s love flows”
“white sapling and raspberry cover
i am thirsty”
“to find her
wander the blackjack”
“i drink
and sunset explodes the sky
white water catches fire”
my favorites
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yeah, i like this one too, thanks shawna
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Phillip, I cant tell you how much I love this poem. The images took me right into the poem. I really feel “I traded my language for the soul of a wakan”. A gorgeous poem. Am so glad you linked it at earthweal.
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thank you sherry, so glad you liked it
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Perfect and balanced–we are all looking for that road. (K)
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thank you kerfe
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And who would want to, if we had the choice?
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thank you ingrid
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So powerfully alive and close. Beautiful writing. Love it.
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thank you lindi
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To dream in green, one must go green, meet the world on its terms, as an ancestor who was identical (or undifferentiated) with it. And what poetry comes of that intimate vantage! An invaluable tender, as your title suggest. Great to see you at earthweal. We’re a small forum but love our green.
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this POV is so imaginative – nearly alien, which perhaps, is how we treat the non-human beings on this planet ~
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thank you sire, glad you liked this
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“intruder blindfolded / fool of the world ” truly describes me–except for these moments of memory/flashbacks when we find we are part of it all. At times I salso find the naturalness of being twi-legged without becoming blind. Can we express this anywhere else but in poetry, dance, and relationship with the world?
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thank you susan
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Ah, Phillip. You are diving to the heart here, to the primal and sacred that is within us and around us if we open our senses, which echoes its undying self in the back of our souls, even if we are surrounded by concrete and steel. You have really touched the center of our best selves, the ones that are childlike with wonder at the beauty and bounty around us, and don’t see dollar signs in what was meant to give life to everything and last forever. And it will last forever, even if we are not around to see it. I especially like how the opening pulls us in to that walk/crawl/swim into the Mother…and it never falters a step throughout. Just a gorgeous poem full, for me, of the comfort of the mountains, which are the Unending. Sorry to be so late to comment!
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thank you, joy, yes, this one is kind of special to me. and honestly, i don’t want to be a human being anymore, this species has let me down more times then i can count.
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