POETRY: A Magazine of Verse
Tears that are dropping melodies
Because cunning hands and strong have shaken the living cords.
The skies part, the black wings fold
The Sun-chief's canoe rides on the upper blue with furled sails:
Tem-Eyos-Kwi, laughing, is at the paddle.
Our village is drenched with light.
(Ai-i! Tem-Eyos-Kwi is glad because Love has overtaken us;
Because now we see the earth as she sees it.)
Two by two, they come up from the forest—the men and the women.
The women's smiles are the little sun-tipped clouds
Floating across the face of the mountain:
The look in their eyes is deeper than the seas.
High in the light the men lift their heads.
On their clear brows is the mystic mark
Of those from whom a great dream has gone forth.
Firmly they hold the hands of the women,
Who have given peace to their strength, and a meaning.
Together, together, the race-makers enter the lodges.
KAN-IL-LAK THE SINGER
TO NAK-KU
Nak-Ku, desired!
Thine eyes speak gifts
But thy hands are empty.
[172]
