THE SONG OF THE SKY LOOM

      (A Tewa, Pueblo Tribe Poem)

Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you the gifts that you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;
May the warp be the white light of morning,
May the weft be the red light of evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!

Source: http://choosing-santa-fe.blogspot.com/2007/10/songs-of-tewa.html

Guiding Questions

1. What is the title of this work? Is it a poem or a work of prose?
2. What words are in reverse syntax (reverse order)? What is a loom?
3. What do weavers usually create?
4. In this poem, who are the weavers and what do they make?
5. What does warp  mean?
6. What does weft mean?
7. What words make the poem sound like a prayer?
8. What comparison (extended metaphor) occurs in the poem? (How are Father Sky and Mother Earth like humans? How are they different?
9. What do readers learn about the lives and beliefs of the Tewa people?
10. How can what the Tewa learned about the universe help modern people?

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