Candomblé

49 couto Nancy Lee Couto Candomblé The woman waits, harnessed in white lace, straining at the breast. Beneath her skirts she is sturdy as an animal that carries other animals. She- shakes her head, relaxes, stretches her brown toes along the bare wood planks. As she grazes on the gentle, pointed blades of expectation, people gather. The people wait. The drummers tap out rhythms in their order. They code the pattern of wind working the pasture as the moon works water. Their faces sweat, hands fly. Clouds meld and darken. The crowd is copper wire winding in neat, tight, concentric circles inside the temple where the woman waits. The woman waits, braced for oscillations that surround her calling. Could it be the first time storm galvanizes her familiar pasture? It strikes. And she is scared beyond preparation at this weight that presses knees into her flanks and knuckles across her will. It could be the first. Struck, the woman rears and whinnies, then falls into the perfect, prescribed motion, her current pulsing fast along the coils of worshippers. The mother-of-saints fastens a headdress on her. Twelve hours she dances without eating, without resting, without relieving herself, the patient animal she was. They call her a cavalo, because God rides her. We wait, harnessed, straining against interminable wires. We toss our heads, try to relax and graze on rock or bluegrass spun by dee-jays on the FM band. We wait a long time, watching TV dramas, reading slick magazines, pacing our turf, neighing, never knowing what we wait for, knowing it isn't that. 50 the minnesota review We wait, women and men, too, stabled together against expected meteorological gallops, moving fronts ofshattered panes, elecrifled antennas. Parimutuel. We buy insurance and wait some more, starting to discount weekly premiums as loss, equestrian disco lessons we didn't go to. Sometimes we dance. CREDENCES: A Journal of Twentieth Century Poetry and Poetics CREDENCES specializes in modern poetry and Special Collections. Bibliographies , unpublished manuscripts, documents of literary history, featured with poems, reviews, and essays. Published by Poetry/Rare Books Collection, 420 Capen Hall (business 434 Capen Hall) SUNY, Buffalo, New York 14260. $10.00/ 3 issues. ...