Jumpin juniper berries
Did I ever tell you about the
Hot rocks in the Devil’s Pass
Down South along Whiskey Gorge?
Oh boy oh boy those rocks
I tell ya
Had me jumping half way down that gorge
Didn’t miss a jump
But sure did scare ol Franny
Boy oh boy
She was hollering after me
And the echo of her hollerin’
Had the whole gorge a’shakin’
And me a jumpin
Oh boy oh boy
Those hot rocks down South!
In the great time of y’or
When my Grandfather Thick Neck
Roamed these wild lands
His deer were thousands strong
And each Autumn they’d collect
From all four corners of
His vast kingdom
He had roamed all Summer
And would gather near
The great Big River
To Winter in collective warmth
The power was in their numbers
It was impossible for predators
To attack such a strong group
And in the darkest days of Winter
They had fellow deer
To remind each other
Of the bountiful Summer days
Coming soon again.
These days are long, my son
The grass hardly grows
And we must be keen and aware
To find what has been left
From the summer’s growing
See these cat tails?
They will do you very good
But the birch, poplar, and willow
Those will do.
For we are not the only ones
Looking for sustenance
In these cold, blizzardy days
No, let this be a reminder
That when the food is plenty
In the warm summer days of green
To eat and eat and eat some more,
For winter’s sure to come again
And we survive, oh, we do survive
We are survivors on what has been stored
During the summer days of green.
You see here now don’t chya know
I was, and were, to be sure
A little tied and tried
But test it was and test me not
I set the plot and tricky thin
My sneaky ways and shifty grin
Wore me like a blade of grass
And there I was on tippy-hooves
Scamper proof and lightly tapping
Dark as night, thin as life
Working in and working out
A two by two by four my plot
Let it be known and let me not
Show the grief I never treed
For in the end I never moved
So here I am stuck in my groove.
You know, last night
I was walking through the briar patch
Thick as a skunks tail it was
And there before me was a glowing patch
Of juniper berries
I kid you not!
Juniper berries!
So I dug and I tugged
And I squeezed and I slid
I bent and I stretched
Until I made it through that prickly ol patch
And beheld those junipers
And boy did they taste good!
Sure is a change to the worms and beetles
And fiddleheads I’ve been finding
I sat right down and ate each juniper berry
One by one, plucked off the branch
Until they were all gone
And as I dug and tugged
And squeezed and slid
And bent and stretched my way out of there
Guess if I had a smile on my face or not?
No, it is not thy cause
It is exactly thy momentum
Of this beating heart
That fluctuates between
Hunger and pain
Life and death
Wet and dry
These contrasts to live indeed!
That keep flowing forth
Such delicate evolutions
Of thy soul and mind
And push me, ever more.
I am sorry kind gentleelk
I have never been to the Rivers Pass
Though I have heard from friends
That the water there
Is exceptionally clear
I once had an Uncle
Who would go every year
For what he would call
Elaksation Elkscursions
Mother would roll her eyes
Whenever he would say this
I would ask him what that meant
And mother would tell him
Not to fill my head with such nonsense.
Many moons ago
This wild Serengeti
We now look out upon
Was much different
Then what we see here today
Even our own herd
Was much different
I remember when I was young
I had seven houndred and forty five
Uncles and Aunts
Six houndred and thirty
Brothers, sisters, and cousins
But now
Our herd is thirty five strong
I have seen that day
With my own two eyes
Do you think these tusks of mine
Have not seen a long life?
Do my trunk hairs lie?
Many moons ago
When we would walk to our watering hole
There would be birds as far
As my still young eyes could see
Beside our great herd
There would be antelopes
Water buffalo
Wildebeests
Hippopotamuses!
Zebras and the pink flamingos!
And the rhinoceroses!
I loved watching the rhinoceroses
Slowly go back and forth
Between their mud hole
And the water
I remember I would always ask my mother
If they were also our brothers
I have always thought they look
A little bit like us elephants.
I find myself floating along on this delightful day
Lost without being lost, happy without a cause
Joyfully munching the highest of acacia leaves
To quench my hungry appetite
After all, living as the tallest terrestrial animal
Requires a quite unique palette
But all this jibber-jabber
You’ll have to excuse me and my manners
How does the sun shine on you today?
Jimbo?
Yehp?
Jeb?
Mhm?
Did you guys notice how each and every year we return to this same mangrove?
Yehp
Mhm
Oh, cause I was thinking maybe that was an accidental thing, a happy circumstance, a chance encounter…
Nope
Are you guys enjoying the leafy plants in this water today? I’m finding them a bit pulpy to be honest. Yesterday I was over there and they were much more… smooth
Mhm
Jimbo, are you going to go over by the mango grove tonight? I was thinking I’d like to see what’s over that way. As of yet, I haven’t explored too far from this mangrove we’re in. The others called it Bottom-Bottom Mangrove didn’t they? That’s a weird name don’t you think?
Yehp
Mhm
I mean, don’t get me wrong, the sun is glorious here, it’s so refreshing having the Bottom-Bottom to relax in all day. Can you guys see how it just comes over my back? My feet are touching, are yours?
Yehp
Mhm
Watch me guys, I’m going to go all the way under! Think I can do a hand stand?!
