Wovoka (named Jack Wilson in English), a Northern Paiute, dreamed he was taken to the spirit world and saw all Native Americans being taken up into the sky and the Earth opening up to swallow all Whites and to revert back to its natural state. He claimed that he was shown that, by dancing the round-dance continuously, the dream would become a reality and the participants would enjoy the new Earth.
I’m a dream-dancing ghost
ghost dancing on swells
from surf to horizon,
from where sun sets
to when it rises
a ghost whose dance is
so familiar it reminds me
of someone I knew
whose breath was mine
whose skin I shared,
a ghost now dancing
in pied skin, still breathing
but less familiar than that
distant ghost, the one
who danced on tender feet
tripping, scanning sky
while dancing close to an edge
dreaming —a dancing ghost
upon a brink dancing
.
……….. dancing
……….. still
…….. .. dancing
a dream-dancing
nascent ghost
.Jim Culleny
8/25/17
Blink 