Rain Dance

This contest is for Free Verse, Short Stories or Prose. Approximately every
6 to 8 weeks, I will post artwork for inspiration to write for in either free verse, short story or prose.

Picture Prompt:

Oh Great Chiefs of Tsalagi,
Come and dance with me.
The harvest’s near, the land is dry,
Evil threatens all we see.

The spirits want what is not theirs.
They loom at every turn.
Come now, Great Ones, visit us,
To Mother Earth return.

Yonaguska and Oconostota
Come now, Oh, past Uku.
Degadoga and Savanukah,
We beg your presence, too.

This land is very thirsty.
It is parched now to the touch.
Wrosetasatow and Moytoy,
We need you very much.

We dance the dance forbidden;
A dance of long ago;
A dance before our people,
So that all will know

Your greatness and your power,
To cleanse us and to heal.
From your cloud homes, please come back.
We worship you with zeal.

The flutes call to you, O Great Ones.
The drums beg you with their beat
Our great devotion we celebrate
In the movement of our feet.

So come now on the raindrops.
As they splash and in dust foam.
Rain down upon your servants
To this place you once called home.


32 lines
Note: The traditional Native American Cherokee tribe performed rain dances to both induce precipitation from clouds as well as cleanse evil spirits. Cherokee legend says that the summoned rain contains the spirits of dead Chiefs who upon awakening from the clouds battle evil spirits in the transitional plane between our reality and the spirit world. It was also believed that particularly elaborate and ornamental rain dances could inspire the participants as well as audience to partake in unusual acts of spiritual worship .

Reference is made to past Chiefs of the Cherokee Tribe.

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