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Seeking Kokopelli by Dorothea Barth ©2010
While peering through the cumulus
On Southwest desert flight
I saw a gnome with pointed hat
Upon the wing alight
He sat carefree quite near the edge
His beard blown by the breeze
His tiny feet were dangling
Oblivious, at ease
Kabouter, I identified
That ancient lowland gnome
Oft did we meet in childhood
Near my ancestral home
The bright-edged wing turned upward
And sliding from its tip
The enlivened leprechaun
Played on this aerial ship
As he bounced off my window
My mind flew off its track
His beard was gone, his hat transformed
And hunched became his back
I should have known, I might have guessed
Who'd come along to ride
The trickster Kokopelli
The Southwest desert's pride
A distant kin to impish Puck
He plays upon a flute
He scatters notes, not magic juice
And brings fresh rain, new root
I lost him on the desert train
That through the night and morn
Rolled onward to enchanted land
Where Kokopelli 's bornArrived at arid snow-swept fields
Where once fierce battles played
But where through tumult and distress
Kokopelli stayed
Now Kokopelli's everywhere
In silver and in blue
But his commercial countenance
Feels incomplete, untrue
As winter's sun began to set
I found what storefronts lack:
My breath poured through a simple flute
Brought Kokopelli back
G minor pentatonic
The tunes cannot sound wrong
Kokopelli's spirit
Kokopelli's song
Key words: Dorothea Barth Prose and Poetry, Kokopelli, Kabouter, Puck, gnome, fertility, Southwest, Santa Fe, Albuquerque This poem is copyrighted to the author. Editors, please contact the author if you would like to acquire Seeking Kokopelli for print.
