November 21, 2011

Native American Heritage Month

Balance does not always mean same.  Grandma stepped up the ladder time and again picking fruit.  Prepared on the porch and cooked in the kitchen it ended up in mason jars—shelf after shelf stacked with tomorrow’s pies and cobblers.  A walk through the hen house each morning led to the egg selling Saturday trip to Amarillo.  Equaling the scale was not about pushing cows or milking cows, that was granddaddy’s work.  Sometimes, though, they would pick peaches and milk cows together.  Balance does not always mean same.

© David B. Bell 2011

Two Circles

there are two circles
the men make a circle in the center
around the large fire
behind them the women make a circle
in the cold shadows

the men speak much wisdom
they make all the laws
they make all the decisions
then they look behind them to the women

if the women shake their heads
the men must begin again.

Norman H. Russell