“Najavo Blue” by Conda Douglas

Changing Woman, snared between ages.
She sits beside her hogan home, watching
the indigo ribbon of highway rush by
headed for the Anglo life.

She spreads her velveteen skirt
catching the land beneath, a Mother Earth.
She captures her clan name in her skirt folds
and hand trembles a path to Beautyway.

As she circles her turquoise
skirt, shielding her people from evil,
she sings the Way of beginning,
a chant to the new Navajo nation.

Changing Woman, snared between ages.
She waits, a tribute to Navajo time,
knowing herself belonging to the blue-faced
Horned God, whose bag of blessings
never empties, and grows with the giving.

For more poems by Conda, purchase FIVE Vol. 1 No. 7.