Its presence fills his throat with its fragrance taste.
and, through the haze, his eyes gaze at The Elders of his new tribe,
He spies that all eyes are on him, as his mortal frame transforms.
Eyes widen as they witness the truth in his earlier spoken words,
for no longer does The Shaman sit there, before them.
As a child, The Shaman was haunted by many strange visions.
By his favourite river he never found it easy to get to sleep,
for stranger's voices would speak in foreign tongues to him,
but strangely, The Child knew instinctively who they were,
and then when he was older, his visions would shock his peers.
So, in the end, he became very much alone.
His way of life was decreed NOT to be of the sacred way,
for his teachings touched on the essences of unknown traditions,
though it would be many passing moons later, that he would learn this.
Eventually, he became despised by many of his childhood friends,
however, he gained their respect when he became The Medicine Man,
And it was then that his strange & alien beliefs became accepted.
Through the smoke of the fire, all of his previous lives were replayed,
many, many different forms appeared on his face.
The Elders knew then he was telling the truth about his past,
they knew then that THE SHAMAN was but his latest identity.
Transfixed, they watched as the faces appeared on his face,
they saw then he was a shape shifter of the highest order.
And, in his mind, he journeyed far away from the fire,
for his inner spirit turned to thoughts from his past,
he re-lived again all the pain, and all the suffering.
Then, later, The Elders gained strange wisdom from he,
they discovered exactly who this stranger was.
Glad then, were they of his presence in their tribe.