Analysis of A Lakota Mother's Prayer



‘Wana Hin Gle’ the Lakota call me,
‘Wana Hin Gle’ my given name

‘He Who Happens Now,’ the drum beat has found me,
reaching into this moment beyond glory and fame

As ‘Wana Hin Gle,’ my spirit has wandered,
as ‘Wana Hin Gle,’ my ancestors call

The questions dissolve, as The Great Mystery beckons,
the campfire eternal, the chanting enthralls

“‘Wana Hin Gle,”’ my Mother calls proudly,
“Your horse is now waiting, your shield fixed with bone

“Off into the prairie you must ride in the twilight,
the People will dance until their son returns home

“’Wana Hin Gle,’ you must now happen quickly,
the buffalo ravaged, starvation cries loud

“Your eyes to look upon the great Wakan Tanka,
whose absence has shamed us, who once were so proud

“As the great Tasunka Witko who traveled before you,
you must call for your horse to come out of the lake

“Great Mother River and Great Mountain Father,
to your will they entrust what The People forsake

“Your spirit must suffer, the babies still cry,
the cold through the tent flaps, all future in blight

“The hawk comes to guide you, as you pass through the darkness,
the drums of your fathers beat into the night

“You will ride to the top of the ‘Pass Of The Bears,’
ask the Grizzly, our brother, where the demon still hides

“Where it lives, you must kill it, for this time and always,
before it steals our last dream, keeping spirits alive

“The White Horse will take you from the lake to the mountain,                                      
and the stallion will sprout wings with its hooves fiery hot

“You will trample this demon and burn him before you,
the smoke will then signal of what he is not

“‘Wana Hin Gle,’” my son; the time is for going,
your journey awaits, past-futures on hold

“The Medicine Woman is locked deep inside you,
your People die waiting—the young and the old”

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: February, 2011)
From My Novel: “Searching For Crazy Horse”


Scheme AB AB XX CC AX DX AE FE GF XF XD XD XX XX XH GH FI GI AX
Poetic Form
Metre 111001011 1111101 11101011111 1001110011001 1111110110 11111101 0100110110010 0100100101 111110110 11111011111 101010111001 010110111011 1111111010 0101001011 1111010111 11011111011 10111110011 111111111101 11010011010 111101101001 11011001011 01101111001 0111111111010 01111010101 111101101101 10101010101011 111111111101 01111011101001 0111111011010 00101111111001 1110110011011 01111011111 11111011110 1100111011 010010111011 11011001001 111010100 1110101101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,964
Words 343
Sentences 1
Stanzas 19
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 38
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 76
Words per stanza (avg) 18
Font size:
 

Submitted by KurtPhilipBehm on April 14, 2020

Modified by davidb on April 16, 2020

1:43 min read
80

Kurt Philip Behm

Longtime writer with twelve books in publication. Three of them Poetry. : The Death Of The Playground : The Sword Of Ichiban : Searching For Crazy Horse : Darkening Sun : An Anthology Of Perception-Vol's 1 & 2 : After Midnight : Sammy And Bumpers : The Fall City Mandate : Revenge Along The War Trail : Death from The Sky more…

All Kurt Philip Behm poems | Kurt Philip Behm Books

22 fans

Discuss this Kurt Philip Behm poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "A Lakota Mother's Prayer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/53148/a-lakota-mother%27s-prayer>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    10
    hours
    2
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "School Boy" as a part of the poetry collection entitled "Songs of Experience"?
    A Walt Whitman
    B William Wordworth
    C Robert Frost
    D William Blake