the lakota whispers

the spider tried to trick the woman and the man; he gave them the bags that had the winds of the gods and with those winds their wishes came true- they had eternal life and their children eternal life and their children eternal beauty but the winged one and the unknowable and the sun berated the spider and sent it out so it would have no friends; and man was wizard, and woman was witch, and the children became the directions that point us- a compass- we read into their souls the names that we ascribe and follow; so they knew

okaga knew beauty but he had no tongue and his eyes followed the stars but longed for only one. yata knew only beauty and had a tongue but rough and coarse and it lapped at skin like the dog's tongue- it tore at flesh like the cat's tongue with its barbs; eya and yanta were but brothers but fools and knew nothing more of the world then where it ended before the point of their nose. okaga played the flute for her who was her sister but would be her wife. okaga played the flute and sang the star song but his father though that she smiled for yata and frowned. the father thought that the star smiled for yata, and he frowned, and he wept.