Deer Dance Day
Purification:
A tiny tornado dust devil
Twists in the dry heat.
Once they were supernatural.
Perhaps they still are.
Fire opens the Spirit Gate,
And Stone People are brought in.
It is dark here,
It is hot here.
Cedar's sweet aroma
Punctuates the prayers,
Welcoming the spirits.
Aho!
All of my relations,
All of my relations,
All of my relations.
Blue sky holds the moon,
Pure in expanse of space.
A twinkle of light,
Spirits depart.
The Deer is calling.
The Deer is calling.
Purified in the lodge,
I am ready,
I come.
Deer Dance Night
Journey's Start:
Ala ini kun maiso yoleme,
Hunu kun maiso yoleme,
Ini kun maiso yoleme.
On the hooves of a Deer I travel,
The shake of the rattle,
The beat of the drum.
Por medio de una flor,
Ruido del golpeteo,
Ritmo del tambor.
Into the flower I travel,
The shake of the rattle,
The beat of the drum.
Ala ini kun maiso yoleme,
Hunu kun maiso yoleme,
Ini kun maiso yoleme.
About the Author: Howard Gayton is a writer, performer, and theatre director based in Devon, England. He is the co–founder and artistic director of Ophaboom, a theatre company specializing in Commedia dell’Arte.
"Balance of the World Part I," written in Arizona, was inspired by a Native American sweatlodge and by the Yaqui deer dance and Easter ceremony. For "Balance of the World Part II," go here.
The poem originally appeared in To the Desert by Howard Gayton, with art by photographer Stu Jenks (Trix Press, 2006). It may not be reproduced in any form without the author's express written permission.