Dominion Warhoop: Leading Cloud

Leading Cloud
painted the red
of dusk,

shaman claiming
a flaming brand, smeared
blood with a flint knife,

unseen forces
to many, her spirit
world weaves a crooked
paw weak,

no woman
begins to be
until she has seen
her vision,

smears her
face with rabbit
blood, streaks with
black paint,

cornhusk star
pasted with tallow
on her forehead,

she doesn't
sell a million,
but they hope to,
climbing to the top
their names must come
first, must come first, first
to sell a million, sell a million
to who?

Avian objects
in her medicine
bundle, beaks, bones
talons, and feathers, her
power and guidance from
the winged envoys of the gods,
her power bestowed by the birds
who soar higher than any others,
her name is Leading Cloud,

climbing to the top
their names must come
first, must come first, first to sell
a million, sell a million to who?

Copyright Ms. Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist