Across the way, I can replay
Scenes from the past, like a wandering day
Of hope and tenderness on the blue bus
Among riders, hurried but generous.
As such stars passed through Montana, eyes stared,
With nice young men, jobless, steeped in despair,
Yet, still the road offered joy and surprises,
Bright beaches beneath friendly sunrises.
Felt like an odyssey beaming with light,
And together we basked in shared delight.
An Indigenous man offered his lore
Of fertile wild land and truths we'd ignored.
There was such shared hope interspersed with pain,
Each mile a drumbeat, each gain our domain.
Aside from its indigenous natives
when those there United States
(home of the braves)
were first settled by white colonists and pioneers
it was advertised with a carrot
(not a torch)
held by copper-sheathed Lady Liberty
with book candle
(no bell)
française est elle
with the slogan 'Land of the Free'
propaganda of the day it's enough to make one sick
as today there's far less carrot and way too much more stick
haves and have nots will always be there
(the tired poor huddled wretched masses)
but we you and me can make a difference if we really care
River makes its final clunk
Between
Hills
Rolling boulders like turtle shells
Empty of their mouths and hearts
River bent
Flailing legs and neck
No longer reflects
The sun and moon
From water’s absence down its back.
Turns her terrible brittle head
From me
Teeth gnashing on the spools of willow
To her memory
When mud was forest
Footsteps
Croaking with frogs and dazzled with dragonflies
Ringed in a halo of cold fog.
We are dying
Together
Not angels nor even demons
But conquering visitors from a desert
Who brought nothing but the leech of desert
With us
Covering the entire Earth with insatiable thirst
And hunger
Kings and Queens for a day
Destroyers
Of those ceremony drums
Of gods and plants animals and language
When we lived as One
Gift
Strummed through the harp of gratitude.
Now, I seek a forgiving signal
From perhaps a divine wave
Coming from the dying Mother
This way
You poor skinless fool
The fire shall burn behind you
The entire Earth and its people
Which is all the things that flutter
Crawl walk and sing
"An empty bowl
With a spoon beside you."
Whether the Indigenous People,
robed in leathers, head dressed in feathers,
who had their own sovereign nations,
wanted it or not,
June 2nd 1924,
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
condescendingly signed the Snyder Act,
a.k.a., the Indian Citizenship Act, into law,
thereby conferring American citizenship
on American Indians.
He had it backwards,
it was no more than an affront
as, whether the Indigenous People
wanted them or not,
it was American Indians who,
altho' they made no claim to own Mother Earth,
should have conferred American citizenship
on the Paleface People,
who were mere trespassers on tribal territory.
And Woody Guthrie
(1912 – 1967),
another white man,
was not referring
to Native Americans
when he wrote,
'This land is your land.'
Unreciprocated passion
is not yet resonant compassion
Unreturned love
feels dissonantly lonely
Failure to cooperatively thrive
Longing for health giving
mindful exotic
double-binding
cobinary relationship
Strong wealth receiving
resiliently embodied
erotic co-elationship.
(May we hear and breathe the words of our indigenous ancestors
And may we all be so lucky as to have an indigenous future)
Life is a beautiful word.
Oh Great Spirit
As we walk across the Earth
Teach us
Help us find
Peace
Dignity
Respect
The courage and strength to be brave
Wisdom and truth
Kindness
Honesty
Humility
We look to you for love
Compassion
and honor
So we can make a better world
for everyone
and everything
Mountain people in China
Never waste their plants
Whether bamboo or banana
They utilize the whole plants
From roots to stalks
Leaves and fruits
To create sellable products
They handmade bamboo
Arts and crafts
They are one of the most
Creative and industrious
People of the world.
they call it our independence
we were never dependent
they'll rape our only mothers
make us repent it
they'll sell our land
and bomb us when we tent on it
they'll condemn our freedom
after forcing us to shoot for it
morals are futile to the fed
to the hungry
well,
different story
—Tony O'manachain
Singing with outside
transcendent
ego-theistic
wealthy resonant voice
while dancing inside
Eartheistic
healthy resilient choice
RePresents ancient sacred reconnections
of messianic verbal thoughts
invoking bodhisattva nonverbal feelings
Amusing muse vocations
re-presenting compassionate communications
contentiously contenting
indigenous EarthTribe wisdom
Singing while dancing
mindbody
humanely divine
crown/root chakra
expanding circles of resonant
resilience.
Hika Bay
Silent hawks appear
outside our window
two,then four,now six
form a floating dimond
A kettle of hawks roam high
on ancient air
sent by first peoples
to remind us
We dont own these wonders
they belong to Hika Bay
we are just the latest
interlopers
Frozen in place
in the sky
the gray sky
before the rain comes
PJB
Today I’m thankful for the Ojibwa…
whose simple prayer…this simple verse
Could, if heeded by all of us
change the destiny of our universe…
For they know, as I wish we knew,
how everyone is our sister and our brother
And if we were all taught love, compassion and honor
we have a chance not only to heal the Earth
but also…to heal each other.
Today I’m thankful for Indigenous wisdom
wisdom that needs to be respected…
The earth is not a resource to use up…they believed
It is an heirloom to be treasured and protected
EarthTribe dancing divas
still indulge emphatic circling
meditations
Dogmatically embodying
mindful medications
Producing peaceful pleasures
spiraling passions
against war's relentless anti-paradise
Dancing resiliently within
organic drama
while resonantly without
systemic trauma
Right hand
and foot
open out
in front of
future win/win
mindfully embodied
penetrations
in behind Left past
win/lose shady
mean predations
Right hand gratefully open
virtuous praising circles
inviting LeftBrain
viscous
vicarious healing
vicious marches
in ancient patristic
hierarchical lines
Resolving EarthDivas
now prancing in space-timed spirals
extending boundaries
to soon embrace love's immortal
body-mindful warm regard
Together circling
Earth's silent empowering
dormant winter solstice
starlit witnessing Adventure
Enlightening
dancing Gaia-With-Us
inside win/win
newborn presence Presents
Divinely humane
returning RightHand up
and LeftFoot forward
round wombed joy
Voiced
and love choiced
again
Indigenous divas
dancing EarthMother's
ancient wisdom
passion
light
power.
i am the land of legend and dreams
billions of years ive been here its seems
a land of dreaming and ancient ways
i have survived for so many days
now my future is very unsure
a modern corruption is burning my core.
my ancient keepers killed and slaved
by the white masters that dig no grave
my oxygen lungs burnt to the ground
my forests are empty and void of sound
i sit in silence
as the the new owners cause violence.
stripping me of my valuable soul
to make money by drilling a hole
why cant they see
the real wealth is here in me
without me you are dust
so why destroy me ?why you must
modern owners with their chains
enslaving the land for their gains
here my voice
we all have a choice
i am gondwanna land
Feminist
and LGBTQ
and DisAbility
and All Colors and PolyCultures Deeply Matter
EarthViews
engage neuro-systemic
sacred felt natural reflections
inviting spiritual polytheistic
celebrations
Indigenously remembered
as clearly not
Straight White Predative Male
monotheistic worship
Rather
Left liberating responses
resisting AnthroPrivileged
unecologically
monoculturally rabid
Lack of polytheistic
indigenous wisdom
nurturing
naturing
nutritioning
sacred EarthCommons
Curious
compassionate
contextually circling
recycling
repurposing
reconnecting intelligence.
Related Poems