FLYING HOME ON BEADS OF THE TRADED PAST
Seeing where I’ve been is where I’m returning to
That cord that dropped me into this world
Lowered like Skywoman onto a goose down to the waters of life
Had a place at first in the sky
A spirit place inside that dream
Before my time ran a sky’s path into a life span
I began my journey to finding home the day I was born into the waters of life
Through all the places I moved
Through the children I was and gave birth to
To all the people I chose and all the mistakes I chose to fly into
A cycle repeating from a distant passenger and a faraway messenger
Coming back together an uncle, then a mother and a daughter
A family history of hiding and fighting, moving, loss, and finding
Finding pieces along the way in beads that light the way
Pieces of knowledge, of history, of teachings
Beads from a traded past of identity to survive return to live again
Beads from a confined and caged culture submerged in secret to survive
Flying home in the knowledge of a Northern sky
Trying to get back to that home that was lost so many times
The spirit inside the dream that says
"Flying Home On Beads of the Traded Past" 24"x48" Acrylic on Fir and Beads
“Find your home” and sends you down to the place you chose
But you forgot to remember what you came to look for
That marker that was stolen the day the geese were blinded and made mute
To lose their place in the sky in a formation that is supposed to follow the last
But their voices were erased and their eyesight of hope blinded
“Find the pieces along the way that leads you back
Find your inner eye that sees inside your souls bone
For relations that knew you before you were born
Sometimes you will need to follow someone
And sometimes you will be needed to lead
And sometimes you will be that light that voice in the dark sky
It takes courage, patience and strength to find your North
It takes truth and honesty to lead, knowing your place as being part of the whole”
And then you find that home is not a place outside of your alone
It always moved and changed you from within
But solidarity begins inside your soul
LauraLee K. Harris