Many people who knew Doti (including me) didn't realize that she'd been a prolific poet in her younger years. She wrote mostly about the two things that were closest to her heart: nature and Native American culture.
She always had a strong connection with nature and, if it was possible, had perhaps been a Hopi medicine woman in a previous lifetime. Some people would look at her funny when she'd say something like that, but she firmly believed in spirits, previous lives and the afterlife, and she always had a strong affinity for the desert Southwest native cultures. When she was a kid playing "Cowboys and Indians" with her friends, Doti was always an Indian.
While she was in the hospital recently, I stumbled across a folder in her house that contained poems she'd written between the ages of 10 and 16 and I mentioned them to her. "When I was young, I thought about becoming a poet," she told me, "but I decided to become a teacher instead." I read several poems to her during her final days as she lay in her hospital bed, including the one I especially liked, called "All is Quiet."
I've posted a few of her poems here, all of which she wrote when she was 16 except for "All is Quiet," which she wrote when she was just 10. Under the text of each poem, I posted a scan of the original poem that I found in her folder.
All is Quiet
Walking through the forest light, Peace is scattered throughout my mind, |
Heart of the Wind
Walking over the heavens, Puffing over the mesas, Storming over the desert, |
Cloud Dreamer
High on the distant mesa he lies, The lofty eagle soars high above, |
Twilight
Beauty in the desert Then the rays of twilight |
Rain Prayer
Hear the pound of mighty drums,
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Harmony
Calm and peaceful Harsh and rugged Cool and cloudy Calm and peaceful |
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