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Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee
 
Through an early fog vague human figures formed
Grey against the orange light of dawn
In fluttering feathers and tattered skins
They stood, green and verdant lands resting in their eyes and in their hands
And about their feet the deserted winds blew desert sands 
A dust of ages passed
Tore their peace from silent mouths
And blood and massacre 
Betrayed the promises they held 
 
And the whistling desert sands still have not learnt
To halt their rampage
While through Eurasian Caucasian civilization 
Extinction sweeps ever closer
 
Lost forever the very last lesson
Gone forever a spirit of symbiotic integrity
Balanced so precariously
Progress walks with Wounded Knee
 
So silent is the rape
Through veins of mineral, political and religious carnage
While “Manifest Destiny” continues its murder for the sake of money
All bound and tied to the twenty first century
And progress walks with Wounded Knee
 
The white dream has swallowed humanity
And grown to marvel and to shackle 
Through the mire of disillusion, desperation and boredom
Nothing but entertainment offers deliverance
Sucked to the marrow in the search of mystery
And mourned now are the ghosts of history
Ignorance a foot hold
Contempt a foundation
Greed the cement to build the walls
Stupidity the bricks to raise it high
Cruelty the merciless slate of excuse
 
The pursuit of pleasure has forgotten
And repudiated any connection 
To the North American Indian
Death and capitalism are now the only reality
And civilization and progress walk into the future with Wounded Knee 
 
Am I then this product of this history
These deserted ghosts of time
May have saved us from this destiny
I walk now with the cohorts of the blind, I walk with Wounded Knee

Copyright © | Year Posted 2008




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Date: 3/10/2009 11:03:00 AM
Colin, truly we are on the same page when it comes to the Native Americans. My boyfriend is part Cherokee and part Chickosaw (spelling?). He inspired me to write "Trail of Tears." Was Wounded Knee the site of Custer's last stand? Love your poetry -- all of it! Carolyn
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Date: 10/15/2008 10:34:00 AM
Awesome write here, Colin. I couldn't even finish the book ... cried too much ... this write would be Narrative in form ... go to the Home Page and look on your left under "Resources" and there is a section called Forms of Poetry. I've learned so much here and believe me, there is a lot to learn ... LOL ... I think probably 90% of my writes have been Free Verse. Llike you, I often mix rhyme with no-rhyme so, Free Verse works. Glad you're here and open to learn!!
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Date: 10/14/2008 5:48:00 PM
A Beautiful tribute.Bravo!Lacy,
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Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry