Indian Name

I always wanted to ask my father, an Odawa medicine man, to give my friend John an Indian name because, Indian or not, he deserved one. He may not have necessarily believed in the spirit world---Heaven, Happy Hunting Ground, Paradise, Kingdom Come, Promised Land, Hereafter, Ether, Father Sky, Fixed Eternity---but he lived in such a spirited way that I know he had conversations with what's holy, even if just in examining the sheer mystery of thoughts and feelings, especially his own. Don't know for sure if in the ancient ways there's such a thing as a sacred name being given to one who is dead, but we're off to do it anyway. We're brave like that. Very Indian-like. Way-yo-way-yah-hey-ho.

hard fall rain---

the dark road's glare

like some bright angel