Sun Dancers  

Thousands of feet pounding,
Drumming the dry ground
Into rough leather;
Earthy canvas pulled taught
By a thousand souls.
Beat pulsing
Up through thousands
Of bare soles;
The rhythmic exhalation of the ancestors
Breathing into each skull
The curling smoke
Of a thousand
Long-dead campfires.
Sun beating
Down on a thousand naked,
Shining backs;
Slick with sweat,
Stained with dust
And fading whispers.
A thousand bodies
        Dancing
As if each thundering footfall
Might force great white wings
To burst
From their burning shoulder blades
And carry them away
Into the flawless
Blue Sky.

© 2006 Patrick M. Pilarski