Zuni Mysticism and the Continental Divide
Near Zuni Reservation in New Mexico,
The Continental Divide divides nothing,
Just a sign nailed to the flat desert floor.
Arbitrary are these words and this demarcation.
This Continent can’t be divided by sign or civil war.
From here, the Zuni Reservation is invisible
To all but pilots and medicine men.
First, I see a long-armed cloud,
With its white sleeve rolled up,
Jab the mountains farther west,
Or is it just some Zuni sacred ritual?
Now, I can see a Zuni boy next to the vision pit,
Fire sending a trail of smoke into
The firmament for a Zuni boy to climb.
Steve Hein
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