Zia Midnight Ceremonial
Poetry Inspired by the Avery Collection

Zia Midnight Ceremonial
Raphael Medina
Catalog No: 2000-186-136

Zia Midnight Ceremonial

The Zia Midnight Ceremonial souls
Wanted to get in the building of the ceremony.
They wandered on the top of the roof
And it sounded like a parade of drums.

Walking back and forth trying to
Annoy someone, the Zia Midnight
Ceremonial people pray as the
River runs like raging floods in California.

The smoke comes out from a fire
Down below in which a woman
Prepares food for the ceremony. I see
Lights blinking through the dark windy night.

The lights are blinking fast like blinkers
Of a Pontiac Grand Am. The moon
Sits in the sky like a giant light bulb
Shining above their heads.

In this painting it seems like a cold place to be. I
See the woman shivering as she screams to her
Husband to help with the fire as it burns with
Huge flames of orange and yellow.

I see a quiet and lonely place to be. I see a
Full moon high in the sky. I see a wonderful
And artistic painting hanging on the wall
Of the Arizona State Museum.

Miguel Madrid
Hohokam Middle School

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Zia Midnight Ceremonial

HERE: The lost souls weep like a coyote howling in the desert night.

HERE: A woman shouts in grief to see her husband wandering on the roof of a ceremonial building.

HERE: Smoke rises from a raging fire burning down below from the women cooking food for the ceremony.

HERE: Water waves make roaring noises like a flood in California.

HERE: Lights flash on and off like blinkers of a Pontiac Grand Am.

HERE: The moon sits still like a giant light bulb in the sky.

HERE: People look like they are scared of the souls on the roof.

HERE: It feels cold and windy with a cloudy sky above their heads.

Miguel Madrid
Hohokam Middle School

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The Zia Midnight Ceremonial

In the Zia Midnight Ceremonial, the girls
Dancing on top of a building like mimes.
The girls were dancing around the pow-wow as
Prisoners acting like mimes.
As the moon was watching them the town sat
Silently at midnight.
The moon is an owl’s eye watching them over the
Pow-wow.

The drums drumming so fast like a stampede.
I felt as if I needed to run so fast like a cheetah.
As I felt like running the spots on the cheetah
Reminded me of oil spots on the town’s floor.
With the rivers running on the side of the roads it
Smells as if you would be in Hawaii.

Angelica Vargas
Hohokam Middle School