Everything the Power of the World Does is Done in a Circle by Black Elk
Everything the Power of the World does
is done in a circle. The sky is round,
and I have heard that the earth is round
like a ball, and so are all the stars.
The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
.
Birds make their nests in circles,
for theirs is the same religion as ours.
.
The sun comes forth and goes down again
in a circle. The moon does the same,
and both are round. Even the seasons
form a great circle in their changing,
and always come back again to where they were.
.
The life of man is a circle from childhood to childhood,
and so it is in everything where power moves.
.
From the Sioux, as told through John G. Neihardt
This poem was selected by Laura H. (Readers’ Services)
