Lost and looking for a trail
Elk has long since vanished
A mountain chill and wind blows the pass
A knock-knock-knock echoes
Through the cedar groves.
A flash of red moves through branches
Again a knock-knock-knock
As the winds rattle the dry limbs overhead
Then a ghostly music
In harmony with the loneliness and fear
Sings the song never heard before.
Red-headed bird
Teaches a story in a song
Speaks of lovers who will follow
Of griefs that will be soothed
Of gratitude to the ancestors.
Cut the sacred cedar branch with honor
Hollow and work it with care and prayer
Cleanse it and name it
Then form it into a living being
To use it in a sacred way.
This is my journey
–Nate Long “Owl”
— inspired from Native American legend as told by
Henry Crow Dog, Lakota Sioux Medicine Man in the
book The Sound of Flutes and other Indian Legends