A Natural Salvation -

Naturally I want a natural

                Salvation.  Dark hair and eyes,

Boldness.  Firm curiosity and desire

                Willingness and the ready yes.

Working hands, observance, keenness

                Of insight and the wisdom

Of suffering in touch and word. 

Food prepared with the skill of

                Practiced love.  And the folding

Over of the buffalo robe, like the corner

                Of God’s garment over the

Naked, bloody child abandoned by the road.

                The covering of love, the

Nurture of consummation, the initiation

                Of conversation between friends

The verbal and physical intimacy of lovers. 

And so the sorrow of the night,

                The weeping of the weary soul

Are put away for joy.  New hope is born

                The hand becomes strong

The eyes brighten.  Rest is made sweet

                Food becomes savory,

And long, black curls are tossed, like the mane

                Of the mare, and the pride of her mate.

Arise, my love, let us walk in the dew of the mountain morning

                The fresh smell of the sage, the blue spruce,

The fir and the pine.  We will rest in the shade of

                The aspen, and love in the shadow of night

Even as we delight in the revelations of light,

                The curve of the thigh,

And the softness

                Of sighs.