Noisy, noisy chatterbox
Empty your thoughts all out
Pour them into Eternity's pot
Entering into silence
Where all things are and are not.
~ Shani. Medicne Woman. Words.
June 4, 2000


The Great Listener listens to all sounds
A hearing ear to the universe
He listens to the sounds of trees
to the movement of the wind in a breeze
He hears the sound of a calf coming from
his mother's fold
To the newborn infant and the sound of his
Mommy's first glimpse as her eyes behold...
The snap of a twig deep in the dark mahogany wood
The sound of the buzzard's wings circling the prey
as it should.
The Listener's ear receives the subtle sounds that you and I might miss
and from the unfolding movements of life is recorded on a list.
He listens to the sounds of the seasons' change from winter to spring
summer to autumn...
Now he hears the vibrant change of color as it blazes through each leaf
And yes, he hears the prayers whispered from every belief.
The sound of the fluttering eyelid as it flutters and shuts for sleep...
The emanating quiet that then enters enshrouding one in peace.
He listens to every right, wrong or indecisive move
as well as the seeming insignificant creaking of the
door as it slides on its track's groove.
The drop from a tree limb of an apple, a pear or a peach -
Especially he listens to the adult who takes the minute for
a child of some good lesson to teach...
And how the listener's ear opens to the words of life and wisdom
from a believer as he or she shouts and preach..
Each sigh, moan, or silent tear as it is shed
Even the invisible wounds that from past have openly bled.
Oh! That God would grant me the Grace of the listener's ear
I would then know patience to hear instead of leak
Idle, meaningless chatter I often engage when I speak.


Shani. Medicine Woman. Words