Cherokee Rose

many days we walked
an unforgiving sun
beating down upon us
and at night
even the cold moon
seemed to curse us...

Seeing what no eye should see
our tears mingled with dust
and angry winds spoke
of the death of our people
our children, our old
succumbing to grief...

Our hearts cried out
Great Spirit, give strength
give courage to your people
let not this trail of tears
be the end of our great nation
let this not, be our defeat...

The Great Spirit heard
the anguish of his people and said
I will send them as a sign
an indestructible flower
which has both strength and beauty
a symbol of my love for them...

As dawn awoke
we turned our faces east
longing to see our ancestral home
to savour the richness of our heritage
as it was before the fathers of greed
stole it...

But what we saw was amazing
the trail we'd watered with tears
was alive and growing...

A white flower as pure as fresh snow
within its center gleaming gold
a lovely flower
surrounded by seven green leaves
and armed with sharp thorns
the Cherokee rose...
Copyright © | Year Posted 2019

Poem

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Gauthier Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 4:54 PM
A poignant and powerful poem, Running Wolves.
Wolves Avatar
January 17, 2020 at 5:08 PM
thank you, you are to kind
Fame Avatar
January 15, 2020 at 9:44 PM
Beautiful prose... Frankii
Wolves Avatar
January 15, 2020 at 10:09 PM
Thank you very kindly
Bush Avatar
December 19, 2019 at 8:57 PM
Does suffering always lead to redemption & beauty? You seem to make it so. Beautiful, Wolf.
Wolves Avatar
December 20, 2019 at 6:26 AM
Suffering may cause some to find redemption, but most develope a dark sense of humor and unhealthy coping skills...
Krutsinger Avatar
December 19, 2019 at 7:40 AM
Beautifully done! So proud and purposeful!
Adams Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 7:47 PM
wow...this was beautiful and well crafted... the ending was perfect for this piece...wonderful penning Robert :) though not cherokee my oldest grandson is part native american indian, his grandfather grew up on a reservation...i have always been intrigued by the native american indians... hugs
Wolves Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 8:39 PM
Thank you so very very kindly. I truly appreciate your words and time. Hugs
Dietrich Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 2:57 PM
wow,Robert. I wrote of the Cherokee a long time ago, a very wordy "free" verse,which I considered more as prose.Anyway, I like how you went beyond just describing the trail but turned it into a special tribute using the symbol of the lovely white flower. Awesome.
Wolves Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 4:03 PM
Thank you very kindly. Your words, your opinions are always uplifting and encouraging, and definitely welcome, lol. My mother's father is Cherokee, my father's mother is Apache, as for me I got the butt-end of the gene pool and look nothing like them, lol. One day I'm going to sit down and try to research the family history
Dietrich Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 2:57 PM
I am supposedly a little bit Cherokee on my dad's side, but one of my sisters did a DNA test and it did not come up!!(though I do have a cherokee looking nose)
Krutsinger Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 9:46 AM
Cherokee rose sounds insightful and delightful Robert. Is she a kind of cactus?
Wolves Avatar
December 9, 2019 at 10:33 AM
the Cherokee Rose is a wild rose with a heartbreaking back story on one hand and a symbol of love and hope on the other.
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