COYOTE
I keep coming back —
born again, born again,
Like the Blue Sky.
I know what comes before
& after, what will be.
I know all about it, ask me.
It's all going to happen.
Everything in its time.
Everything like it's supposed to be.
Just watch how I do it.
Keep at it, keep your head straight.
Day after day, Blue Sky.
Just watch. Do it like me.
WOLF WOMAN
What is thought will happen —
first you must think of it
& then you must do it.
The timing must be right.
What is done must be right
for the time, suit the time —
summer's work in the summer
One foot must follow the other —
they cannot go their own ways.
First there is the pattern
& then it's unfolding.
She who takes the seed with love
gives birth with love.
BABA YAGA
Rain & rain & rain & rain.
There is water everywhere!
Everything is afloat!
This is the beginning.
You can't stand still.
Where will you go?
What can we do?
Make the right choice.
HOMBRE
Tie the right knot
at the right time.
You know what it has to do.
Know how to untie
what you tie.
JACK
I won't stand & wait
until all becomes clear.
A spring bubbles up,
fills what space it can,
& flows as it has to,
makes its own way.
I must move on,
find my own way.
BABA YAGA
I'll answer your questions
when you can ask them.
Do you really want to know?
Does it matter
what you're told?
COYOTE
Sometimes you can smell trouble,
you know it's waiting to happen.
You don't have to help it along,
it'll come looking for you.
It'll come in its own time.
Don't get too curious.
Don't rush into it.
Maybe it won't find you.
BABA YAGA
I don't worry. Not me.
I know how strong I am.
I see things the way they are.
I always take time
to treat myself well.
BABA YAGA
I know what I want.
Things will go my way.
I will do anything
to make things go my way.
Don't doubt me.
I can do it.
I will do it.
I know what I want.
COYOTE
I'm not always right —
usually, but not always.
Even I know that.
Sometimes it pays
not to be right.
WOLF WOMAN
Know where you stand.
Know where you move to.
Know who goes with you.
Know that they know
where you stand, where you move.
Know that they know
why you stand, why you move.
Know that you are right in what you do.
BABA YAGA
You're not alone,
you just think you are.
The others will help.
Treat them well
& they'll treat you well.
BABA YAGA
The rivers will run to the sea.
That's the way it is.
Sometimes more, sometimes less.
They do it in their own time.
No one will stop them.
WOLF WOMAN
The time is right.
Everyone is known.
Things have been done together.
They will be done again & again.
Be yourself, as the others are.
What you do together
brings you together
& holds you together.
KWAN YIN
Being here is enough.
That you are here.
However gentle
you might be.
The wind must pass around you.
COYOTE
You have to know when it's time to wait.
You have to take it all into account.
Sometimes you have to wait.
Twiddle your thumbs.
Watch the clouds go by.
Practice your smile.
It isn't easy, but sometimes
there is no other way.
COYOTE
When I think about what I'm doing
everything turns out as it should.
I have to pay attention
or things just don't work
the way they're supposed to work.
To get things in order
I have to do them in order.
It's just the way my mind works.
FREYA
He knows what he knows
& I know what I know.
Only when I tell him
what I know
does he know.
WOLF WOMAN
We work together.
We know what we want.
We do what it's time to do.
Things get done.
What more can we ask?
COYOTE
It doesn't get any better
than this —
everything is where it belongs.
Everything has a name,
everything has a place.
There is a time for everything.
I could put it all together again
if I had to.
COYOTE
You can't talk me into anything.
I listen to my own mind.
I know what I want to do.
I don't take advice.
I decide if I'm right.
I decide if I'm wrong.
I do things my way
when I can get away with it.
WOLF WOMAN
When you're working alone
you can only do so much.
It all takes a long time,
but if you keep at it
what needs to be done gets done.
COYOTE
In the beginning
we gathered
around
& nobody knew
who anybody was.
I figured it out.
We needed names
if we wanted to talk
about one another.
SPRING
Sometimes someone
who is strong & clear
sees more of it all
& makes happen
more than we knew was needed.
SPRING
I have to know enough
to keep things straight.
I have to know enough
to keep my mind
where it belongs.
COYOTE
I didn't see it coming
but I can't let it go by.
There's a place for her,
all she has to do is remember
what it is —
why she's here.
If she can remember
we'll both remember.
WOLF WOMAN
Try to keep things in balance.
Try to keep things equal.
If a cup is too full it will spill.
If a cup is empty it can only be filled.
Give away what you don't need.
Be thankful for what was given to you.
Be sure to finish what you start —
don't get ahead of yourself.
JACK
A mother teaches her son
more than she knows.
It all goes through her hands.
She knows what to do with it.
She passes it all along.
HOMBRE
The rite of first thunder —
earth opens for the rain.
It has always been that way.
The old ones show the way.
These who believe in what must be done
are happy to be part of it.
Nothing holds back
what must be done.
WOLF WOMAN
If you believe in him
what he does is right.
You know he is right
& open doors for him
& sing to him.
___________________________________
I type out these poems from the opening pages of
James Koller's The Bone Show on the day he passed
away 10 December (2014). Hey there, Jim.
____________________________________
The folk literature of the world speaks from the accumulated traditions of its own diverse beginnings. Common to all these traditions are the desires to understand and to participate in both the known and the still-to-be-known worlds. It all adds up, the folk tell us, will all make sense, someday, to somebody.
THE BONE SHOW is a ghost dance, a chronicle of characters and ideas that, because of their folk origins are able to interact in and with the Present. They remain able to move beyond the known, are able to recreate from the Past, a Now and Future.
The inspiration and focus of the dance, the I CHING, first appeared as an outgrowth of folk traditions in ancient China. We know the eight characters who move through the dance from European and North American traditions as well as Asian. We know that what was done before will be done again. We too, have watched it happen. We know, even as we watch the dancers change, that it's all the same dance.
JAMES KOLLER
THE BONE SHOW
James Koller
Coyote Books
Rete Bioregionale Italiana
2004
