Sweetgrass Braid
Some weeks ago I bought a sweetgrass braid for you
and when I got home Spirit said to keep it on my altar
and so I did.I left it on the marble place where I negotiate my destiny,
curved around the galaxy of cards, whatever they might
say.It is the length and thickness of your braid, gentle like
your braid, and green in effigy of the life you live and
give, and Spirit knew I needed it there to see.And I left it there and closed the door to the room, and
travelled many miles and saw another part of the world
where it is not green, but it is clear.And returning, opened the door quietly one evening, and
the room was sweet, it was fresh like a month of April
mornings.The scent still fills the room every hour, where I negotiate
my way through my own mind and feelings, and find my
way through cruelty and beyond itTo the place of sanity that comes with freedom.
-- Eric Francis, Equinox '01