Interlude ~ Beauties Revisited

©pralinanmi

Love Poem 4

I can see
you and me
are a we
waiting to be..............................

Lions Aside......

©pralinanmi


©pralinanmi


©pralinanmi

First Impressions......

Deadwood
casino ghost town
feeding
on shadow people
gorging
on slots morning noon and night
die-eyed junkies craving
24 hour fixes.....
all I see are casinos...and
a gift shop or two
where are the schools...stores...libraries...
I know we’re in Indian Country but....
where are the brown faces...and
I’ve heard of generations...Chinese
living...loving...dying here...but
where are they
those descended
from brave ancestors
come to a natives’ land
questing another way of life...

©pralinanmi

main street...
pulse of a town
pound pound pounding
nonstop booze lights and cigarettes...
lies sandwiched in
rising hills
where houses sit perched
like ducks on a ledge....
Black Hills...sacredness
ignored
by generations of coin clinkers
choosing to live
a present bourne of past
gun smoke...prostitution and
discrimination against
both native and foreign....

©pralinanmi

I feel hauntings on main street
spirits
filling the air with legends
so strong
everyone breathes it...can’t let go of it...
feels compelled to honor it
in this way
those whose lives paid the cost
refuse to be forgotten...and
year by year
call for the lions
to return
dance
the strange animal away...and
cleanse the new year..................

©pralinanmi

Interlude.....Pine and Snow

©mltainolegends

©mltainolegends

Dancing the Lions

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photos ©mltainolegends

Deadwood cold....doesn't stop....Shaolin Hung Mei Students...
from dancing...the awakened lions.......

Ceremony of the Eye Dotting

........................................................................©mltainolegends
Before its first steps
a ceremony is performed
for the new lion...
one red dot inked on
forehead
eyes
nose
tongue
ears
horn
back of head
spine
and tail...
awakens lion senses
to begin dancing
life.............

Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Lion Dancers..............©mltainolegends

Legend of the Lion Dance

©mltainolegends
Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Lion Dancers.....Main Street.....Deadwood....

The legend says...that one new year's eve many generations ago...a strange animal...the "nien shou"...appeared in Kuantung Province in China. The people of the area wanted to celebrate the entry of the new year...not worry about the creature...so they decided to construct likenesses of the animal to use to chase it away. They made the lion heads of painted paper over a frame of bamboo...and its body of triangular pieces of cloth sewn together. The following new year...two man teams went out into the province...with drum...cymbal and gong players...to scare the animal away...forever. The dance thereby came to represent the chasing away of harmful spirits and the bringing of good luck.
During the lion dance...the lions "eat" a head of lettuce...or an orange...which has been hung in a high and remote place. This often necessitates that the "head" be lifted up onto the shoulders of the "tail"...or has to climb a pole of wood...to reach the "hung bao"...the red envelope containing a donation from the sponsor...which is often strung up with the lettuce. After "chewing" the lettuce...a symbol originally of a good harvest...and now of prosperity... the lion flings the pieces high and low...to the delight of the spectators...distributing good luck...health...and prosperity...throughout. It is beautiful to watch a good lion dancer bring the legend to life...and be lucky enough to participate in this awe inspiring central and revered part of the bringing in of chinese new year............


©mltainolegends

Out of South Dakota

From the abundance...comes a beginning..............


©mltainolegends

Out of South Dakota come many thoughts and photographs...
intenseness...to be processed... written... developed.... scanned...
....and posted...........

Into Indian Country

(written 2/16)

Tonight when I arrived home and got out of the car...I looked up...as I always do to take in the stars...moon... and whatever else may be out there in the deep. Tonight...as I gazed up...it felt as if I was standing in the middle of a sparkling Christmas card...glittery snow capping outstretched evergreen...a sky full of twinkling stars...just the right hint of wispy clouds. The crisp beauty was incredible. Part of what made the moment...strangely enough...was the cold. While in some parts of the hemisphere...spring is budding...here...the last three days have been... freezing... yesterday brought a snow storm strong enough to cause havoc. All this...right before my awaited chinese new year journey to...Indian Country...where forecasts predict an even more intense cold. Nonetheless...the adventure beckons...and excitement is mounting...at the knowing that soon...my feet will be back on land upon which they first stood over forty years ago... the sacred Black Hills...South Dakota. That territory was one of the many places my parents drove us to... every summer... adventures... wondrous places...and people...to be remembered for a lifetime...and for which I am forever grateful. The heart of that land...beats so strong...times spent there...have given me some of my most deepseated memories. Tomorrow...I travel with shifus and classmates...some whom I have gotten to know little by little over the last three years.... but whom I will... undoubtedly...get to know better...after those long hours on the bus...and through whatever else awaits us.............
More.....words and photos...will follow.....as the days to come...unfold............


©mltainolegends

Buddha and lion performers sharing some
moments before a performance.......

Shadow Play

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Snow Moon

Night is prowling
as I journey
into unplowed territory
a lone traveler
pushing up the mountain
surrounded by light
white flakes falling freely
to a sound of their own...
all a sudden a shining above
catches my eyes
this...I did not expect...
moon...glowing full
through the swirling twirling snow..........
lllllllll

Sand Flower

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Ice Sculptures

In the high of night's sky
rings of gold and ochre
circle a round
a subdued moon
glowing gently
upon a crystalized lake...
by her light
I can see jagged waves
of snow capped ice
stilled
into sculptures
by the blowing cold............

Pot Dancers

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Hands of Love

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Taino Legends

Some times
as I walk my time
in the modern world
I can catch my ancestors
spinning
taino legends
deep inside me...
their soft voices
lull me like grandmother's
to live
to the rhythm of the red blood
pulsing
timelessly through my veins...............

On the Edge

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End of the Line

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Eyes To See Detail.....

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Eyes to See

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The carver has eyes...to see..the totem...already...in the tree.........

Silent Passings

Sometimes I can hear
that scream...
you know the one...
borne of sorrow too intense...
that scream that lives
in the heart now...
choked and silenced
by time...
sometimes I can feel it
trying to ing chao through
the hardened layers
pulsing hard
to the beat of the memory
pulling the trigger....
tonight it was...images...
which called it....to claw...
mother...sister...beloveds
laughing and moving
silently
touching me
like the passing wind..........

Winter's Wrath Waits

©mltainolegends

On the wild side of Great Divide
winter remains undisturbed
by the heat of the day
on its eastern face...
balm...which beckons me
to forget...that...
winter's wrath waits
to unleash
its snowiest months
of the year of the dog........
consolation comes...in...
the presence of day's light
lingering longer....
letting me languish lazily
into the bright of the night.............