Chilkat nattering

speaking then, of mountains

best to articulate

round Tlingit council fire

immemorial lore relate

up to the Klehini 

where ebullient waters run

to meet up with Chilkat 

for Ku.eex' in the sun

drove through Chilkoot pass

in my summer of '69

in International truck

I thought the world was mine

Matchbox pickup did a

skyscraper condiment hop

on mammoth dinner table 

at the world's tippy top

crane neck, open eyes wide

look up past where earth ends

that's when you'll meet my 

Alaskan mountain friends

breath-catching deities

cloud swaddled tips of pine

titan elders at feast

on stratosphere recline

it's all different here 

we've stepped out of space

land so large it echoes 

with the Tao of the place

Omi Pause

The Tao (pronounced Dow) is an ancient concept meaning "The Way." It is the natural rhythm of the universe—the force that moves the salmon upriver and keeps the mountain peaks steady. To find the Tao is to both natter and listen. To hear but also be heard, perhaps for the first time.  And then to just be still and in that heard-ness, listen. It is the "Way" the mountains speak when we are finally small enough to hear them.

evergreen shrine sublime

whip-crack cold makes jaw ache

snow cone blue firmament 

admires reflection in the lake

Dust who-speck speaks freely

with Lords of the wood

too small to see or hear

yet her say is understood 

ponderous giants ponder

and bow with deep respect

lower their almighties 

to me the little speck

Tlingit reverence for 

all creatures great and small

as Horton heard each Who

from smallest to the tall

My friend Mrs. Moose sits 

in forest fire Holy See

knows reincarnation grows

from just one burnt-out tree

Omi Pause: Holy See and Seeing

Holy See in Rome is the Seat of Peter. Here it's a cathedral of nature presided over by Mrs. Moose, the sacred witness—the one who "sees" the holiness in the fire and the rebirth of the woods.

Baby pink shells collected

named on whimsical whim 

where tinsel-ical salmon 

with the hooligan swim

as if posed for post cards

naughty black bears play 

lonely abalone beach

Baby Whale in the bay

Last Post and Chorus sung

Eagle calls down the moon

rock cave dwelling bats wake

for it will be dark soon 

in the land of Klukwan

we're on Chilkoot time now

nattering with great spirits

transcending all, somehow

content in our oneness

no alpha nor Omega end

contemplate much muchness

let tranquility descend 

Omi as Dok-du-Yik speaks: I was adopted into the Tlingit nation at 6 and given the Chief's grandma's name "Dok-du-Yik" and I am probably spelling it wrong but forgive a spell by sound first-grade memory. Ku.éex’ in the Tlingit language (pronounced koo-eex) means "to invite." (Thanks AI for helping me get all that down, such help being unavailable in 1969 and the memory of it being 55 years old!) While often called a "potlatch" in English, this is the traditional name for the ceremonies that bind the community together through song, dance, and the distribution of gifts. I have attended two of these, one along the Klehini and the other in the blanket ceremony,   which gave me my name and adopted status. The Ku.eex' was held in Haines at the elder house belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Austin Hammond, sometime in late 1969, at a guess. I think their home was on Lutak Street. It was big and white like a bunkhouse and held unutterably precious memories for me.