retracing footsteps these shoes never traveled
connecting to a lifestyle
I have never experienced
I see myself in pages of Native American texts
experiencing a oneness with the land
which birthed me
and sustains me to this day –
it is in the simple actions of nature
that I derive peace
seeking to be as balanced as the tree
never tipping despite the wind and rain
to be as honest as the predator
only killing to live, sleeping secluded
it is in this way of being
that I find myself for the first time
looking to belong –
I sit in the pasture
surrounded by the sounds of bees
fixated on the outlined mountains in the distance
and it occurs to me
I am at church
and this moment is what religion looks like for me –