- Elizabeth Rose Thompson

- Elizabeth Rose Thompson

"Rarely do we see such honesty from modern booze companies…(this was a real brand btw, from early 1900s)." ~ DrunkenHistory

I am a painter, I paint my poems.

I sold this Kokopelli’s Dance, and I am very happy and smiling.

Kokopelli’s dance   The humped-back flute player plays in tune with the deep rhythms of life. His melody drifts over the parched land and weaves in and out of the daily lives of the waiting ones.

The poor hear his song and in their sorrow and sadness and despite their hesitant hopes they plead for a good harvest or a healthy child. The sick hear the melody as beautiful as the good earth is home, in tune with their hopes, lifting their anxious hearts; they pray for a good death or at least a painless one. Kokopelli, himself broken, smiles at the people; he plays his flute and the music rises above the tiredness of the day as he leads them in the dance. They rise from their beds and follow, slowly at first, step by faltering step, until they are one with the Great Spirit - the author and giver of the song. But that was long ago in the before times. Now we live in a world without stories, a world full of science and knowledge of the ways of things. Now we embrace another poverty for we have lost the Great Spirit, the deepness of things, and because we can’t hear the song no one dances anywhere anymore. 

© Bryan Owen 2006

Kokopelli, the humpbacked flute player, was originally a prehistoric deity among the Native American tribes of the south-western United States. His image has been found carved or painted many hundreds of times in desert rock art.  Kokopelli was associated with both fertility and agriculture but in more recent times he has been adopted as a symbol of the southwestern United States as a whole. In New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah his image can be found almost everywhere.

Bacchus, by Michelangelo. One of my favorite sculptures; Michelangelo makes him look so aloof, perfect for the god of wine. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanders1/54904961/