The Ghost Dance

The Ghost Dance


1890

We had been like wolves
that gathered because we were starving.
The animal we gathered around
was the Ghost Dance.

We moved in a pack.
We circled.
We circled.
We stumbled as we danced.
As we moved beyond our endurance.
Our limits.

They came like a blizzard without end.
They brought their unrest.
We felt it in the air.
Break their teeth—
Their hold on the land.
Drive them back, O Maker.
They have no fear but themselves.

Some were saying they saw
the ancestors starting to return.
But our ancestors were the falling stars.
I saw them at night on the open prairie.

We howled like wolves.
Our teeth were on fire.
We fainted.
All hope was gone.

In the confusion—
soldiers opened fire—
Winter was all that we will know.
We were mowed down.
We swallowed darkness.


Diane Glancy