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Open Poetry #26
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Anasazi
| Open Poetry #26 |
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Anasazi |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows 
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Brown and quiet your valley is and it waits for you, your homes stand still swept clean by the wind, and the white men you never got to see. Leaning against the wall of the pit where you sang your prayers in a cactus daze, I am alone, no other tourists no camera's curious eye to probe the dust; I feel you in the fire of the sun, your black eyes bright with knowing nature's harmony. Across the valley, as if painted on the cliffs, empty holes today stare through other almost hidden walls, and watch for you through centuries. Your thoughts stand with me comfortably, leaning on the rocks, while the bounty of the gardens of your dreams surrounds me; scattered tiny shards beneath my feet are calling cards of artisans who touched the earth with honesty. Although your homes are so disheveled, and defenseless, slowly leveled by the unrelenting press of time, the walls I know can hear the children's silver laughter as they dance from room to room, a thousand years ago, before the final hunger came to drive us all away. I am here today only to remember. ©2003 by icebox |
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| © Copyright 2003 icebox - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
icebox....I have been there, seen this, with the same sort of feeling.....the emotional pull towards the past. Your camera is in your memory and this poem. |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
You are SO good. I could read you all day. In fact, today I did.  Thank you. |
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nakdthoughts Member Laureate
since 2000-10-29
Posts 19200Between the Lines |
Serenity said it well, you are a pleasure to read... M |
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jwesley Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563Spring, Texas |
wonderful tale my friend... jwesley |
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cynicsRus Senior Member
since 2003-06-06
Posts 591So Cal So Cool! |
I've been there, seen it, felt it...just never could put it into words quite as well as you have. Thanks for the read Sid |
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Ishmael Member
since 2003-06-01
Posts 51 |
Good write! Didja know that "they" now think that the Anasazi were cannibles? |
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Bill Charles Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619highways, & byways, for now |
icebox - I'm glad I found your writings to read, they are very good. BC |
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Startime55 Member Elite
since 2003-04-05
Posts 2148Alberta, Canada |
ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT!!! You took me into an ancient past where I could hear the lost echoes of those who once lived and breathed the same air as we do...I felt them come to life, in your words, among the ancient ruins that sit long lost and forgotten....MAGNIFICENT...I LOVE IT... |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
An excellent writing, icebox.. I have been to the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and it is an amazing site. There were several round "pits" hollowed in the ground where men would descend and stand in a circle, certainly drug-induced as you so expertly point out, praying to whatever gods they believed in by going into deep trances. There was one very large room hollowed out of the mountain's side. Deep inside the room, at the back, the walls and ceiling were black where a huge fire had burned, warming the tribe. The fire could not have survived anywhere else or it would have been extinguished by the brutal Colorado winters. I mentioned to the old guide that the entire room must have filled with smoke due to the absence of ventilation and he nodded his head in acknowledgement and said that most of the deaths of the tribal members had resulted from poor health. Imagining sitting in that cavern filled with smoke every night I could certainly understand that. There was little about their lives that could be called glamorous. I enjoy reading about them and I'm glad as hell I wasn't one of them! |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
Martie ~ *smile* Some places are more familiar than others. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. serenity blaze ~ What a kind thing to say! Thank you. I hope you were at least reasonably entertained. *smile* nakdthoughts ~ It is a pleasure to be read. Thank you for taking the time to read this. jwesley ~ I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading my poem. cynicsRus ~ I am glad you can connect with them. Thank you for reading this and for your comment. Ishmael ~ Yes, well no one is perfect. I also have heard the Christian ritual of the Eucharist described as a cannibalistic rite. Like some others, I am intrigued by the absence of physical remains, even in ash deposits, at most of the major sites. Yet the climate is not very destructive of organic matter. At one site I saw a feather from a parrot that only lives in South America. It looked like the bird dropped it the day before; its colors were that bright. It was over a thousand years old. Thank you for reading my poem. Bill Charles ~ Thank you very much, Sir. I appreciate the time it takes to read and to comment. Startime55 ~ I am glad you remember. Those were interesting lives. Thank you for reading my poem and for your kind comments. Balladeer ~ They are a statement of unconquered human spirit. Hard, harsh lives and unyielding religious and philosophical beliefs. Constantly fearing attack. Constantly prepared for battle. How far has the world come....  Mesa Verde is an amazing place. I sat one afternoon on a high outcrop that gave a long view of the land to the South. I was using a 2000mm lens and was looking for unmarked structures. I only was able to scan about 5 degrees of the field of vision and I lost count at a little over 300 very much intact, unmarked structures that were either single room buildings or multiple room combinations. I have heard that most of the area is being closed to tourism because of damage from vibration and also from the humidity of too many bodies sweating and breathing. You are right that these were not glamorous lives. Thank you for reading my poem and for your insights. [This message has been edited by icebox (06-07-2003 11:56 PM).] |
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passing shadows Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577displaced |
*sitting in silent awe* |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
passing shadows ~ Thank you, it was my pleasure Ma'am. |
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Edder Senior Member
since 2003-04-02
Posts 671 |
wow! gave me goosebumps... |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Thank you for this, ice. It was my pleasure to visit those very cliff dwellings years ago, and eencounter the spiritual remnants of the ancients. It was also my luck to have spent some time on Mount Masada in Israel, and an overwhelming connection with the past left me in near total silence. (something I'm not known for  )Your poetry describes a parallel emotional moment. I'll be keeping this one. |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
I was at this place, or one of its incarnations, just a month ago....but neither my words nor my photographs captured it as well as you have done here. An excellent piece of writing. ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> |
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vandana
since 1999-10-22
Posts 10463USA |
enjoyed |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
IceBox~ How wonderfully I enjoyed the reverent tone in this write~ So much to be admired in the peoples of the past~ You pay graceful homage to the cliff dwellers~ Beautifully done. Thank you for the read~ *Huglets* ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
Edder ~ Well, thank you for sharing that with me. I am glad this poem touched you. Thank you for reading it and for pausing to comment. Midnitesun ~ Now, why doesn't this surprise me? *smile* More intersecting threads perhaps. *laugh* Thank you for reading this and for your comments. Ratleader ~ I too sometimes am left without words when I am there. Thank you for reading and for your comment. vandana ~ I am glad you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading and for taking time to comment. Marge Tindal ~ They were a remarkable people. I have always been intrigued by civilizations that blossomed, flourish, perished and are gone with few traces, leaving just enough for the base of a mystery. Some leave so little trace, like the circle cut in the bedrock of the peninsula which juts out into Biscayne Bay where the Miami River empties into the Bay - no one really knows who built that or why. For me, these particular places, the Anasazi sites, are as if I am going home. I understand them and see them in my mind as if they are still living vibrant communities. Thank you for reading this poem and for taking time to comment. |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
I've yearned to visit, just to listen... your words made that happen. *S* |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
suthern ~ Thank you for reading this poem. I hope one day you get to walk their paths, touch the stones, see what waited for them each morning as they awoke. Thank you for your comment. |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
IceBox~ Such a gracious response ... thank you~ Check out this post from our own Corinne~ /pip/Forum31/HTML/002487.html Being of Cherokee blood, I am most interested in the studies of peoples of the past~ Hope you'll take a minute or two and visit my Native Indian Heritage poetry site. Just click on that little house icon and it'll take you there. I'm also sharing your post with Corrine, she will greatly enjoy reading you~ *Huglets* ~*Marge*~ ~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~ |
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Corinne Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167state of confusion |
Hi Icebox - what a lovely poem this is! You've captured that magic so gently, so wonderfully! I recall ice crystals falling from a clear blue sky while we stood on a ledge. You brought back all of those memories! And Marge, thank you, lady, for remembering my poem, too! Very sweet of you - brought a smile to my face and made my day! Icebox, Marge has hundreds of beautiful native american writings of her own, you should do a search on her name and check it out! Corinne |
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icebox Member Elite
since 2003-05-03
Posts 4383in the shadows |
Marge Tindal ~ Thank you so very much for sharing these things with me. I like "Moccasin Man" the best (for now *grin* ). Your images and imagery are really stunning. Corinne ~ I think the sky really is bluer there. I love your poem as I do love Chaco. I feel very much at home there (whenever I am willing to destroy an automobile getting into the Canyon). It is one of the places where I have known where things were before I saw them. Thank you for reading my poem and for taking time to comment. |
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