brother buffaloes wait for us on the plain
we give thanks to our father sky
Apaches will eat well tonight
the hunt begins
Had never seen a white tiger chief with headdress before
Commanded the room when he walked in the door
His feathers were stupendous, from an eagle so mighty
His walk was a strut, his tail was moving like royalty tidy
What is his name? The Apaches asked, fearing this cat.
It might be Chief White Cloud, said a squaw named Tit Tat.
He had an air about him that commanded the entire room.
We watched him most carefully, some of us from a broom.
Life is like being a soldier. Follow a strict regime Wake up - go to war
Little sleep. Lots of fear but not hiding. Everyday we can die. Hope for peace tomorrow
Like some soldiers we can go crazy with the stress and the trauma about life. Go mental and can't adapt to life outside bombs and tanks and guns and Apaches.
Like soldiers have a point in life so does our living.
Life according to Sarah Jane smith
29.10.15
Despite my complaints there was some merit
In being sent away to my uncles farm
Summers of drudgery, begun with play
First night the pungent grass under the due
Excited me. A clean day to explore!
The cattle, oldest friends from last summer
Swank and Shep who still obeyed our commands!
Might we see the Apaches in the hills?
Weeks passed in the kitchen, the clock ticking
Uncle puffed his pipe and I paced the floor
I sang, ‘I wanna go home’. Uncle smiled
‘Their two hardy chaps’, the neighbour would say
‘And tomorrow we’ll be thinning turnips’
Uncle laughed as he spat on the lino.
Mounted on a bare backed palomino
fighting for the right to live in peace,
leader of the warrior Apaches
stood an indian chief called Cochise.
Six feet tall with long black hair
honest, brave and wise,
and as with all the Nations chiefs
their words were never lies.
He made a pact with the soldiers
they agreed Cochise could stay,
but when they hung some of his friends
he decided they should pay.
From high in the Arizona mountains
preparing his warriors for war,
Cochise would attack them Apache style
to show what he thought of their law.
Cochise attacked fast and furious
the amount that were killed was absurd,
but this bloodshed wouldn't have happened
if the soldiers had just kept their word.
After many years of fighting
Cochise was never caught,
and the government should not forget
the lesson they were taught.
You can drive them from their homeland
with attacks that never cease,
but you cannot break their spirit
or their will to live in peace.
Did you think for a moment,
anxious prodigal would ever forget?
Do you regret, as I, hereditary stubbornness?
Inconsequentially,
My favorite childhood memory
Starched, bleached, hourglasses internal playmate,
Two unsung heros, far from home, adventure underway.
Indigo Comanche, flecked in dawns final burning breath.
Looking upon a pristine canvas, we’ll be the first to etch.
Listening to your legacy, innocent wonder reflects in my eyes.
Hanging enraptured, on your every word,like-
Eternally desperate boot tips brushing a single blade of grass.
Running, fear forgotten, Styrofoam steed faithfully in tow.
Exhilarated anticipation, Apaches saline mourning.