TALKING
My father said
in ten days
would be the time
for dipping the sheep.
He and my uncle
would help my mother and me
drive the sheep to the dipping.
Sheep must be dipped
in medicine-water.
There is no pollen.
There is no Holy Song.
There is no Trail of Beauty
in this medicine water.
But my father says
it is good for the sheep.
Sheep get lice
hidden in their thick wool.
Lice make the sheep unhappy.
Lice make the sheep bite their wool.
Lice are bad for sheep.
Dipping the sheep
in medicine-water
kills the lice.
Ticks are bad for sheep.
Ticks live
on the sheep's good blood.
Ticks make the sheep thin
and weak.
If the sheep are robbed
of their good blood
they cannot stand
the cold of winter.
They cannot stand
the heat of summer.
They sicken.
Their wool is not good.
Dipping the sheep
in medicine-water
kills the lice and the ticks.
It is good for the sheep.
My mother does not like dipping
because she does not understand
why the sheep are dipped.
But my father talks to her.
He tells her about lice and ticks.
He tells her too
that she is quickest and best
of all the women
at dipping her sheep
in the medicine-water.