The Lion and the Rose: Poems INDIAN DANCESO have you heard it, far off, the deep drumCalling from the Plaza all feet to come,Calling from the Plaza the blood in the wristTo beat with the drum, the heart in the chestTo beat with the drum, till the flesh is a fruitThat swells with the drum, and from the bone’s rootAches with the drum, till all bodies are boundFast to the drum and the drum to the ground,And the drum to the earthAs the tree to the earth.O have you lived in the drum-beat, the deep beatAs the old men move together, their eyelids shut fast,Move to answer the sound of the drum in their feetTill the song rises sweet in their old throats at last,And springs from their throats like a river in floodThat comes from the mountains to answer the blood,Till the flesh is a fountain and all bodies riseLike rivers to song and the song goes to the skies,And the song to the sunAs the tree to the sun.O have you seen them, the beautiful slow dancersWhose feet can implore the clouds for their answers,Whose feet can converse with the ghost of the buffalo,The light antlered deer, and remember the rainbow,Whose feet can command the young corn to grow strong,Whose feet spring as light from the source of the songAs the song from the rivers held secret withinAnd from drum bound to earth, the fruit of the skin,And the dance to the skiesAs the tree to the skies.O have you heard the drum-beat and the river of song?O have you come from far to see the grave dances?And not known that you came to be freed by the song?And not known that you came to be healed by the dances,And not known that you came to witness your birth,That you came to give back your flesh to the earth,That you came to give back the deep rivers that riseIn the heart till it floods and pours from your eyes,To give back the song to the clouds and the great rain,Until you, imprisoned, are freed of your mortal pain,As the dead are alone and free,As the living when born again,As the tree to the earth.
