With muttering thunder the dark clouds rise;
heavens reverberate the ancient prayers
etched in the sandstone walls of the canyons;
reflecting the wisdom of ancient races.
Shaman rites forged ancestral connections;
spiritual trails link yesterdays with today.
Invocations for blessings and guidance
adorn the halls of the canyon crossing.
Sacred sagesmoke ascends in spirals,
rising from the ridge-crest point of the junction.
Here the reed-voiced, face-painted Shaman
chants his sonorous prayer of the ages.
Celestial steeds bearing his ancestors
arise to gallop in limitless hosts.
They race the cloud streams,
leaping the ramparts,
ablaze in the gold
of the westering sun.
An ancient petroglyph which I have named
“Patahoek” is inscribed on a high point between
Nine Mile and Trail Canyons in the southern Utah
desert plateau. While reflecting on the little sentinel,
these words came into my mind.
