Triviality

We were as old as the land, Disillusioned warriors Submerged in abandoned dreams And drowning in our dead. Resting in the yellow promise Of vandalizing tongues, We trusted the honor of those Who stipulated the terms of submission. And we surrendered all we'd known For the sake of our unborn As the elders mourned the mutilation Of traditions that defined us as a people. We became a necklace of broken hearts Buried in deceit While our young faded like a photograph In their eclipsed heritage. Yet pride bulges from our grieving chest Withstanding the brunt Of mockery's spear and the trail of tears; We survive. We are Turtle Island, Emerging from emaciated hopes To revitalize our purpose On the sacred wheel. We are not a sub-species, Decomposing in the cage of triviality. We are the eagle; Refusing to die.