Chaco Speaks, Poem and Watercolor by Mary Barnes

Chaco Speaks

On, on, on the people marched

Under the unrelenting suns.

Only a mass, a web, lemmings

All

Eyes watched, the knowing eyes.

Sacred priests levitated, transfixed, high above mesas.

Sacred birds flew.

The people, one mind

On, on, on the people marched

Under the unrelentling suns.

Only a mass,  a web, lemmings

All

Eyes watched, the knowing eyes

As the Comet seared across the sky

As Fire plumed from the south

Upward into the sky.

The priests, knowing, unknowing

Levitated.

Sacred Birds Flew.

The people, the mass, the web, lemmings

All

Levitated under the suns and

Chaco

Ebbed and flew