Some Men Know

Some Men Know

Some men know to build a fire

When the center is hollowed out

The way the first grasslands knew

To burn overgrowth into blessing.

Sometimes a grandfather is needed

To remember to call in the seven

Directions as a grandmother would

Simply call in a circle of honoring.

Some men know to make a shelter

When summer fails and life is laid

Bare, rustling the plastic sheeting up

Close, over the river, in your house.

Some men, it could be any day now,

Are called to go down there, build a

Bridge across, help that man build

A new fire from your donated heart.

--In gratitude for my brothers