Corn
From Blood Run. Cambridge: Salt Publishing, 2006.
They took deer, elk scapula, scraped soil
Just enough to loosen my path.
Drove a planting peg,
Turned, held to one side
as I dropped dried
into wet earth.
gave goodness,
pollen, meal, kernel
made over each time
remembered in prayer.
Dance for me.
There will be plenty
here for you
again, again.
Raise your faces
shoulders skyward,
knees give, straighten,
feet gentle touch—
You can figure the phases of the moon
by my sprouting tassels.
Reproduced with the permission of Allison Hedge Coke: poet, writer, filmmaker, founding director of the Literary Sandhill Crane Retreat & Lit CraneFest.