The Home of the Sacred

^{Sublime landscapes were those rare places on earth where one had more chance than elsewhere to glimpse the face of God. —“The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature,” by William Cronon}

The “sublime landscape” is not a place to catch a glimpse.

These places are where the creators, Gods, deities and powerful beings live.

At Waw Giwulig I’itoi’s home is found.

O’odham climb the peak to be in the goodness of the Creator.

At Mauna Kea the Goddess Pele resides.

Hawaiians climb a volcano and humble themselves there.

At San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff Kachinas and Ye’ii Bi Cheii

spirits live.

They climb down the mountain blessed with songs and prayers

when Navajo and Hopi call them.

In the Grand Canyon many Gods, deities, and

powerful beings stay in these rock walls and cliffs

holding vigil for their people.

In this powerful place are all the sacred beings.

The Hualapai, Havasupai, Zuni, Hopi, Navajo and others know they

are there. The people simply don’t “catch a glimpse” of holy beings

they sing them; they pray them in these places.

Copyright © 2024 by Ofelia Zepeda. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 26, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  

“Reminding ourselves about what is there in our landscape besides the obvious is important. This work is a result of an art exhibition where I was invited to be the poet-contributor. The landscapes of early American artists pushed me to say what their paintings didn’t for Indigenous people. The notion of the sublime landscape is elevated and made real by Indigenous people.”
—Ofelia Zepeda