Guarionex Delgado
“Hey all you people
sing a new beginning
while the days are shortest”
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A feeling holds my heart
enfolds me in deep snow
like winter in the Sierra
she beckons and invites
from the doorway of our cabin
light from window and door
promises golden warmth
if only if I will come in
I first left this place in spring
with no memory of winter
creeks full with songs
land awake with first bloom
blue gray peaks above the timberline
standing watch, beautifully thoughtless
As a hero though I did nothing
simply being born heroism enough
the visions came without looking
elders, past and future, are present
in awful tenderness, silent compassion
But now I return, broken and in need
I will enter and rest and though spring
may not follow the nights that are longest
perhaps my people will sing me back
Hey jays, juncos and woodpeckers
Hey hawks, owls, and doves
Hey humans, coyotes, and pumas
Hey deer, bears, and badgers
Hey snakes, worms, and beetles
Hey trees grasses and mushrooms
Hey creeks, lakes, and oceans
Hey rain, snow and lightning
Hey sun, moon and stars
Hey all you people
sing a new beginning
while the days are shortest
Hey from your sleep, from your dreams
Hey whether you know or not
Hey grandmother teach us
Hey grandfather teach us
teach us to sing
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Guarionex Delgado, from his book BEING HUMAN, Poems of Resistance and Renewal