The old men told me this, it’s true,
About the days of old.
There used to be no fire on earth,
And it was very cold!
There was a hollow sycamore,
And it was deep and wide.
The Thunders in the Heaven sent
A fiery bolt inside.
Alas the tree was on an isle
With water all about,
And so no one could get to it,
To bring the warm fire out.
A council met, of animals,
To figure out a plan,
And those which fly and they which swim,
Each sought to lend a hand.
The Raven, large and very strong,
Was chosen for his might.
He flew across the waters vast
And on the tree did light.
He looked inside and saw the flames,
And paused a bit too long.
It scorched his every feather black
And he rushed off, headlong.
The Screech Owl volunteered to go,
But when he bent his head
To look inside, it burned his eyes,
Which to this day are red.
The Hoot Owl and the Great Horned Owl
Flew o’er with their large wings,
But ashes got into their eyes,
And round them left white rings.
Because of this, no other bird
Would volunteer to go,
And so the little Racer snake
Did swim across the flow.
And when he reached the sycamore
He found a little hole,
And slithered in, but there the fire
Burnt him as black as coal.
He darted here and darted there
Until he darted out.
And ever after, still today,
He always darts about.
The Blacksnake swam to get the fire,
And climbed the tree, outside,
But when he looked down into it,
He choked and fell inside.
The fire within did blacken him,
Just like the other snake,
And so he quickly climbed away.
The flame he did not take.
The council then convened again,
For there was still no fire,
But all were scared to venture there,
Because it seemed so dire.
The Red-Stripe Water Spider said
“I’ll manage that, no lack!”
She spun a thread into a bowl
And put it on her back.
She ran upon the water and
She dived and also swam,
And ran across the island’s grass,
Till to the tree she came.
She took one little coal of fire,
And placed it in her bowl,
And brought it back to where we live.
All fire’s from this one coal.
Cherokee myth.
Poem by Aaron Walden.
© 2009 Aaron Walden
