Swoosh, voluminous wings, mighty sky dancer,
all black with a white patch under
9 feet of wingspan, you balance on the wind.
Cleanser, purifier of earth,
your orange-pink head remains clean
when you feast on the dead
ingesting flesh, organs, bones.
A regal ruff of feathers adorns your neck
protecting you from the cold.
A prophecy claims you return
to fly with the Eagle
balancing north and south,
bringing all peoples together.
You are the path of the heart
flooding us with memory of times
before man mindlessly began
using DDT and littering the land
with bullets,
poisoning your blood with lead.
Strong, Cher-perhl So-nee-ne-pek*
powerful watcher, Neee’n
one who forges ahead, Poy’-we-son
may you return in great numbers
to fill the sky with hope
that the path of the heart
can rule again.
*Translations in Yurok of three names of condors reintroduced in the Klamath region in northern California
—
Terri Glass is a writer of the natural world. She lives near the Smith River in northern California. Her recent poetry books include Being Animal from Kelsay Books and a chapbook of haiku, Birds, Bees, Trees, Love, Hee Hee from Finishing Line Press. She is a grant recipient of Upstate California Creative Corps in which she created a series of poetry wall hangings about the endangered wildlife of her region. Visit www.terriglass.com
