Forest of Lost Memories

My thoughts drift...back ...to days-long ago... like faded photographs... the sun is bright... the day is brilliant and crisp... I stand among the forest of lost moments like, dear, that run and play...forgotten...memories ...the hunting grounds of my youth... Images of love vanished ...victories bitter... histories are alive in this woodland... feral tribes forged by the essence of the earth held dominions over open plains that expand forever... An empire of no claim...no boundaries... a falcon rides the thermals...an eagle braves the hunt... The great spirits of old... spirited this once untarnished land... linger like smoke ….curling from a distant eon. Echo of wars fought lost in nightmares of blood... Until... Gentle rains came...to wash away the stains. ....until a pale man, a false deity... arrived...to cover the lands in my ancestor's bones subjected to his demands...drive us from our homes... These lanate images haunt my dreams like inhabits cowering in corners of my new mind... ..I...remember...without...experience…flashbacks I... witness a trail of tears... my blood...burns my people...fear my Love falling; red shimmering, splashing to earth my loss...feeling the years... My thoughts collapse...ages ago... on to this free raging earth... that no soul calms or can ever possess... AH!...no deed...no creed across tracks...vast to no man's land of... white flesh, ashes to ashes, dust to dust we all will return to mother earth. A chilly breeze tosses my hair I am stirred from my thoughts I see the falcon rise... I feel its black marble eyes It knows it is time... the moment I must walk the path of the great spirits... they come...all too soon... The crisp dried leaves crunch under foot... the sun is warm on my face... the wind is sharp with winter just behind…! My eyes turn, and my legs go weak... I stumble...I am meek...old these brittle bones... I see something walking the phantom nations… I see... before me...I ponder...I know... The falcon apprises me from afar... I believe... I see it is time to go... NO…turning black... I feel a brave warrior's heart...of...My clan... my pride... my tribe... my beloved bride... Wandering, traveling forever in life... ..the ghost plains... the green grass fades...the clear crystal blue sky bleeds its color dry... The air grows colder... ...the falcon burns out ...pale white like an aged photograph... Before my sight...they infect my mind... I fall...I dig the cold hard ground and feel its faded glory... I will lie for a little while... so tired... so sleepy... I must go the spirit nation, calls! ...my ghost tribe... my beloved bride... ...goodbye! Dedicated to friends and The First Nation!