Molly Chisaakay is an Aboriginal, or First Nation, writer from Alberta, Canada. In her poem "The Elder's Drum," Chisaakay expresses her love and longing for people and rituals that are integral aspects of her heritage. We can identify numerous vivid verbs, adjectives, and nouns as we consider the poem.

In the first line, "smoke rises from the sacrificial fire." The noun "smoke" and the verb "rises" immediately engage our senses of smell and sight. The adjective "sacrificial" gives the noun "fire" a holy or religious aspect. In the second line, the noun "circle" stands for unity, and the verb "share" combined with the noun "hope" expresses optimism and trust in the ceremony.

In the third line, the noun "elder" stands for a respected authority figure. The verb "drum" engages our sense of hearing. In the fourth line, the nouns "love," "people," and "circle" combine to give an impression of great unity. The unusual verb "exuberates," which means "becomes exuberant," emphasizes the joyful aspect of the gathering.

In the fifth line, the noun "rituals" again points to the spiritual or religious nature of the gatherings. In the sixth line, the vivid nouns "whiteness" and "age" help to clarify the image of the poet's grandfather. In the seventh line, the adjective "frail" shows his physical weakness, and yet the noun "clarity" attests to his spiritual strength.

In line 8, the poet proclaims that her "spirit rejoices in the song of [her] people." The noun "spirit" points to the life of the soul, and the verb "rejoices" shows that she is not merely happy but exuberantly joyful. In line 9, the noun "dignity" expresses pride in the poet's heritage, and in line 11, she clarifies this by using the adjective "proud" and the noun "heritage."

Finally, in the last line, the poet uses the adjective "sacred" and the noun "song" to emphasize the spiritual nature of the rituals she has been describing.