Only a small selection of poems is included on this site. Check this area often -- new material will appear unexpectedly.
THE HEALING
In that lonely space beyond midnight
everyone else had gone
and he lay there fevered, broken, after
too many days to count
As a presence entered.
It was not his long suffering wife,
who served him diligently through all those hard days
It was not his
doctor,
who wrote with steady hands on the charts
It was not his son,
who asked his mother countless questions she
could not answer
It was not his large, quiet friend,
who kept praying even after the
rest of the world had forgotten
In that lonely space beyond midnight
a tiny golden light,
smaller than any atom of his tortured body
flared forth
and spread love throughout every part of him
visible or not
Next day his wife embraced him completely
His doctor celebrated the news
He lifted up his son as they laughed together
And his friend softly thanked God.
– Michael Riversong
February 2002
GIFT OF THE EAGLE
©1997 by Michael Riversong
This poem is a gift to the good people of Germany, where i have travelled and found warm hospitality:
Good hearts throughout the land
Those who know the Wolf belongs in the forest
and the Eagle in the sky,
you are called to be true to yourselves.
Today we see another Wolf rising over the land,
devouring women
by using electricity
children by using chemicals
and strong men by using hopelessness.
Today it is hard to see the Eagle,
when our eyes are focused on turmoil in the land.
Yet the good hearts always know the right way to live;
they only need to know who the Wolf really is.
Make sure to see the target,
make sure it is the right target,
then do what is most unexpected.
With kindness,
gently bring the Wolf to Berchtesgarten
and take him to the tower of the Eagle's Nest.
Let him see, for perhaps the first time in ages,
the freedom of the sky and the space in the land.
Give him time to know, little by little, what he has done.
Let him wash walls, and paint houses,
until he knows there is a Universe here --
A Universe filled with good people
who love their children,
who protect the women,
who find strength in the flight of the Eagle.
Only then can the Wolf enjoy the pleasures of the forest
and be sane again.
[This poem may be translated and distributed as widely as possible,
provided the author's name and e-mail address always remains
attached. Please send any translations back to the author.]
Naked, on the Prairie
©1996 by Michael Riversong
Over a thousand voices constantly impinging
on her mind -- relatives,
alive and dead
and insistent authorities.
She did not want to hide, but she ran
for days and days until she found herself
naked, on the Prairie.
From her spot she could see infinite
space, in every direction, and lines of beautiful
natural forces gave her courage.
At night she spotted each star in the Everlasting Sky
and then discovered
she could carry a map of the whole Universe in her mind.
The next time you saw her,
she was wearing a bright Mickey Mouse scarf
and a warm coat.
She laughed a lot, and served you tea.
The next time you saw her,
she was
building, on the Prairie.
12/11/96
Here's another poem, which i wrote in the LA Shrine Auditorium while waiting for the Auditor's Day event to start:
EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE PEOPLE
©1997 by Michael Riversong
On the
borderlines of crowds
moving always aware
only if you carefully observe
will you see them --
people who still think of spaceships,
how beautiful some of the gas jets between stars can be,
and if they had a spaceship,
how incredibly much could be accomplished.
But if you took the time to go
to the edge of the Universe
and observe those people
then you must be one yourself.
9/13/97
Here is the door to a special series of poems: Dragon Field
To see poetry by other Cheyenne poets, go to The Serendipity Poets Page