Tuscarora Prayer Flags

    
Each spring I bring a string
of Tibetan prayer flags to Tuscarora.
At winter’s end, they are faded and frayed,
which tells you something
about the power of  wind.

I wish my hopes could ride the wind skyward.
Although I know the custom makes no sense,
If I did believe, this would be my plea:
Don’t turn my deepest needs to tumbleweeds
blown nowhere but against a barbed wire fence.