Steve Berman Potery

White Deerskin Dance
Hupa September 1973
Closing my eyes
I still can see
that line of men
each holding a long pole
with draping deerskin
head with antlers
held on high
And swaying slowly
side to side
the long poles
in steady rhythm
move as if the deer
spellbound
were dancing
Were they in trance
or was it I
entranced by that
by steady line
of the deer dancing
overhead their eyes dark
in the twilight?
Today it seems
a dream I had
long ago when
the world was young
and coming into view
for the first time
The Hupa say
without the dance
the earth will tilt
lose balance
and the ocean
overrun the land
Is that what’s happening
now that we
have failed to take
our places
in the line
forgotten how
to circle ’round?
They come together
every fall to dance
and dancing
bring the world
back to balance
I worry there’s
too few of them
too many of us
others who have lost
the knowledge
lost the way of dancing
But while the dance
the vision of
the sacred white deerskin
lives on then all
is still not lost

Steve Berman
September 16, 2020