( from Crossing at Sweet Grass)

An eagle feather

dances with the wind and then settles.

It has traveled far

soaring across the prairie

and over mighty rivers.

 Now it rests on a tree branch

and dangles before me.

I pick it up and brush it across my cheek.

Treasuring the freedom it represents,

I wonder about secrets locked inside.

 Adventure has beckoned me

to escape dull farm life.

Fate has taken me to a rugged, wild land.

It is all survival now.

 How could I possibly have known

 the promises this feather held?

Until in an instant, wind picks it up,

the feather whirls away

and I follow it home.