Osiyo, Ancestors – In the Hush of Rain©️🤫🌧️ by Felina Silver (Copyright 2025)

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

I missed the call,
yet it finds me still—
in the hush of rain,
in the whisper of cedar smoke,
in the slow breath of the mountains.

My mother was Cherokee.
We did not follow
every woven path of tradition,
but she taught me the sacred balance:
respect for the spirit world,
harmony with the earth,
to cook with care,
to shape with hands
the gifts we are given.

She said: each soul carries a tool.
Mine was writing—
a way to carve memory into word,
to carry light through shadow,
to keep the stories alive.

I missed the call,
but I return it now.
Osiyo—hello, ancestors,
I am listening.
Wado—thank you,
for the echoes in my bones.
I lean toward the old language,
the songs not yet sung,
the prayers wrapped in syllables
older than stone.

Before my last breath,
I will answer—
to the land,
to the stars,
to the voices carried in firelight.
Their call is not missed—
only delayed.

ᎢᎦ ᎡᎯ ᎤᏚᎵ (Iga ehi uduli)
May there be peace tomorrow.