SASQUATCH FOOTPRINT (Dream Poem by Patricia Kelly)

SASQUATCH* FOOTPRINT
(from fragment of larger dream; dreamed & written May 1996)

I.

What never was can also die,
needs also to be mourned.


II.

The leathery face of a Sasquatch
parts the aggressive tone
of the dream as if it were a curtain,
looming sorrowfully,
draped in a maroon shawl.

“My child is dead,” this Yeti mother says.
No anger, no accusation,
just simple truth framed in human speech
clearly alien to this maternal
mythic creature.

She reclaims then cradles
the limp body of her infant son
against her earthen breast,
as her mate appears behind her
hovering briefly in their shared grief.

And this family
of dark angels
is gone.


III.

What never was can also die,
needs also to be mourned.

* Sasquatch is the Native American name for Big Foot, and Yeti is the Tibetan name for these huge hairy humanoid creatures who may, or may not, exist at the edges of what is left of our wild spaces. [The photo is from Webshots.com]

* * * *

Resource: Notes from a Non-Existant Himalayan Expedition; this is the poem by Wislawa Szymborska that a friend forwarded to me, which put me in mind of my Yeti poem above. Please note I make no comparisons between these two poems. Szymborska's is in two words "utterly amazing!" It's one of those poems that, as Emily Dickison said, made me feel as if the top of my head were coming off. And that from reading it in translation. I can't imagine what it would be to read it in her original language.

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blogs ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL and ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT.