Collage ~ Miwok Grinding Rock
Created/Narrated By Sacramento Artist Jeanette Nelson
For the Asking
Deep, quiet, burial, Miwok land, my elder bones rest,
Shaken, shocking verberations, scaring, a lift, an arising,
Sky and soil, air and light,
“Where are my Miwok families?”
“Who is needing me?”
Across town, her pain reached, living in angst,
Ungrounded, yet ground-down from whole to half,
Tidy, manicured-spaces, mowed by design, unfound soul,
Her wish, she dreams, could she receive guidance with me?
My wonder, “Could I reach her, contact, connect, soothe?”
Toward my heart, her gait, gentle, forwarding,
Hike, a rare open space, reverent, a burrow of owls,
Her call for me, eyes of respect, heart up, ready and real,
Still now, a searching, a risk, for the asking, humbled,
“What would you like me to know?”
My chosen task for her, an unearthing, soul grinding sign,
Truth test, proof, a belief guarantee, my answer, clear,
“Go Home. Dig a hole in your backyard.”
She receives, not believes, instantly feeling teased, foolish,
tricked, disrespected, a failing, not an answer,
Her disillusionment, as with mine,
“Why did I even try?”
Fury, determined, takes me on,
One patch, undug, hidden, no cul-de-sac view,
She attacks to dig, to disprove, a physical angst in action,
Elbow-deep, impatient fingers, hand shovel pressure,
Grit takes it, deeper down, her hands land,
A rounding surface, further, a bend down, around,
Scraped fingers, weak knees, shoulders, spine, worn heart,
Rocking pulls, weight-shifting, circling, fingertips underneath,
Budging, a heft lift, too heavy, up onto chest, hoist, sandy, raw,
One stone, rock, birthed, unexamined, sandy still, set aside,
Dismayed, a kick of dirt, she backs backs backs away,
Shamed, saddened, only, “A rock?”
Days pass, her daughter, a play name, ‘Runs like the Wind’,
Seeks out the hidden, tucked, she finds my sandy swollen stone,
Power of curious youth, strong strain, rolls with a faith,
Sky and soil, air and light, awe,
This young one, seeks her Mother,
Asking one question
Simple
True
“Mom—
What’s with the
Grinding Rock
In
The
Backyard?”