I met him at the edge of the forest

where he told me stories of the Chumash.

He told me what his  friend had seen up in the mountains

And he hadn’t been the same since.

When he spoke

I felt a strange

coolness pass through me.

Later that night, I slept I on the mattress in the basement,

and dreamt of Indians trying to find their way back home...

guided by beads on the ground that come out after the rain...

And the magic shells in their medicine bags.