o, mother

o, mother


You came to me dancing
with claws so soft
I cease to look behind you
dancing in the hollow
between the rattlesnake
and the peacock.

o, friend

She came dancing and fanning
as we coax her with the shakere
electric crimson shakes the lobes
leaves and feathers and seeds fall
from the gourd into fluorescent
blue emptying

o, sometimes with polished scales
I am she
waking.