Years pass but there are things that are never forgotten..... sound, scent, light shadow, taste... the adrenal rush of near death.. the steady quiet of every day... killing heat, and cold so brutal life is measured in minutes....
Then there are the things people think they know..... but don't.. I've been a son.. a husband.. a father an employee a business man an artist and seminary student.. I was trained for command and control.. and have more than 70 certificates of accomplishment awarded by the state and federal Goc....... more that I can remember....Most of my life has been out doors.. and harsh according to some people..
Except..it wasn't harsh to me... heat and cold..wind and rain fair weather and foul.... my life was my choice..
Let me tell you what I remember.. what I saw...
Once upon a time... I lived where water ran... green things grew and life was different than now..
Friends.... work.. tribal lands and customs... not the tv land version the real thing.... Shaman in cowboy boots and broad brim hats..
The pow wows...
Buffalo hide drums... the big ones.. measured in feet not inches.. the ones you never see on tv... the ones that never get shown..
I know the sound of the Buffalo Drum and the rythym I can't forget... the pulse of the people like a heart beat.. the slide shuffle slide of the dance... rise and fall of the old songs the sing song wail of Lakota.. my heart beat matching the drum.... eyes widening ... the tribe Shaman.. coming close.....
Saying "I see you"....."dance with us"....
The Big Drum.... pulsing... a throbbing wall of sound, thats not sound... a thing felt...
Trance.. fatigue slips away.. hunger, time.... everything except the drum....
I see you......Not that I was one of the tribe..... but one of the real people, acceptable......
He knew I saw him as well..... and I remember..
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