She is something of a witch,
like she knows every stitch.
She sings songs I don’t know,
Songs that make forests grow.
She guards doors of inner realms,
of frayed blouses and broken hems.

She knows things I don’t know.
She knows where honey is aflow,
And where cuckoos swoon,
like stars pining for the moon.
She knows when the clouds gather,
But they won’t rain; the wind is shy.

She knows when the dry earth
will heave in the fiery hearth.
Her basket will be filled
With green corns that will yield.
She knows the chicks love the nuts
Scattered under the chestnut tree.

Her bubbling potions
Are what have fed nations.
She has foraged for ages,
Cast spells on green visages
that grew to wild bushes,
with mushrooms on rotten stumps.

She spoke to the tiger, man’s brother
Tani’s bow strung songs of her.
Kipu, the dog, answers to her.
Even the soaring eagles drop feathers
And give wings to the tired weather.

She is called Ane, Anyiand Ayo,
Tender and shrewd, you know why!
She tended fires kindled by many,
revived warmth in cold fields,
in farmers’ dreams from long ago.

Her home lay where tales cry
In a cue, where all tears dry
You tiptoe there, light and free,
Holding only your natal tree.
She will take your hand
And walk you through.

The witch bewitched a potent spell,
And time and space lurched and sped.
She still strings together
Light songs and choices to gather,
And mends hearts that came apart.

Glossary
AneMother
Ayo Grandmother or Mother in Law or Aunt
AnyiElder Sister
TaniIn the oral tradition of the Galo tribe from Arunachal Pradesh, he is considered the first ancestor and the progenitor of the tribe.
KipuTani’s loyal Dog