Driving to Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Since the Badlands
My dreams have been repeating
The Kiowan story
About a tree of stone
Where my sisters live as stars.

In a pine forest,
Their constellation taps my shoulder
In blessing
And swells into the hissing sun
That wakes me.

Until heat from the highway
Rises in my eyes.
Squinting, I see the pavement
Unraveling toward noon.
Like a cold blister
The tower bumps the sky.