everything above the clouds is inherited:
the village of three hundred people, the
weathered bamboo huts, the incantations
used to ward off evil spirits and how you
view marriage or what is proper for married couples.
it is a difficult task: to carry all those broken branches
and straw on your back when you are fifty-nine
and would rather use LPG and a stove.
but you have to go on with this way of life.
one or two people could go away for months,
attend university, aim for a job in government,
but the rest must pledge to tradition, to the spirits,
to the worshiping of particular trees,
to matrimonial duties and the preservation of the village
of three hundred people through the modernized
years. out there, ways of life are changed: the influence of spirits
is less relevant to the good life. but the shaman must continually
intercede for the people with animal sacrifices and speech
only gods understand. and when news of modern world tragedies
reach the tribe, he finds traditions like his must carry on.
DoubleSpeak 