missing the point

missing the point

you asked me to write a quote in Tsalagi,
so many words in my head, and yet,
so little I could find to describe my thoughts
in that sparse dictionary on the web
where there were many words for water
yet no words for regret,
words that describe what I am doing,
yet none for  “I should have,
or I wish, or I would have…but.”

the green of a turtle
is a different word
from the green of an object
that has never drawn breath,
each living creature respected 
for its unique personality,
gifts and talents, challenges,
moral weaknesses, and each
could not live without another.
yet, there are no words for “by myself"

it’s as if they understood
i cannot be two people at once;
as if they recognized
that regrets serve no purpose
except to press down the shoulders
of the one who carries that burden;
it’s as if they are telling me
that somehow, colors are different
when they describe that which is alive
and to these lives, my respect is due,
but also to that which supports life,
equal respect is to be shown.

sometimes i wish i could
take myself back into history. 
if i could, i would tell Sequoyah
and the Tsalagi people
how wise they were,
how their language is a lesson,
a message, a path upon which
I should strive to follow,
but i'm afraid that would be
missing the point entirely,
don't you think?


SWPoet

Dedicated to Cissy in her tireless attempts to teach us about her culture while
dealing with her own physical condition.  Her spirit far outruns her body but isn't the spirit the
the most important part anyway?  My thoughts are with her in this difficult time.

A few words about the poem:

1. The quote I ended up writing for the assignment mentioned in the first stanza
is found here (in case find yourself intrigued): 

Lesson 8 Quote in Cherokee and English  (E) Quote about the nature of man #1535018 by SWPoet

2. Tsalagi is the original name that the Cherokee people called themselves
before the Creeks named them Cherokee “people with another language”
and the rest of the world refused to believe otherwise.

3. One final thought to consider:
With so little words, so much meaning. 
With so many words, so little.