Hopewell Effigy Mudra, by Dave Moreland

Mica Effigy Hand, by Hopewell Culture Peoples (modern day Ohio, USA) 100 BC-400 AD

Hopewell Effigy Mudra
 
Glimmering mirage of fragile density,
a human hand, held upright and open.
 
Alert intuitive mudra, beckoning across
two worlds, a gesture of awareness.
 
Our Hopewell brethren, signal reassurance.
This mica icon, speaking from the grave.
 
An artifact skillfully made.  A ceremonial
remembrance, with a need for affinity.
 
A word, a song, a dance, all implied
in this most human necessity to touch.
 
A message of primal connection to earth
striations.  A peaceful energy reawakened.
 
Self-awareness and empathy, for life
earthbound, yet spiritually transcendent.

​Dave Moreland

Dave Moreland graduated from the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He retired from a career teaching art and art history, after teaching at the University of Idaho, Maryland Institute College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and several community colleges. He has written poetry off and on, over his entire life.  He lives in rural Frederick County, Maryland.