Long Homelands Poems
Long Homelands Poems. Below are the most popular long Homelands by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Homelands poems by poem length and keyword.
This poem was inspired by the interviews by Earl K. Pollon and S. S. Matheson conducted with native Sekanni peoples who were negatively effected by the flooding of their communal homelands by the building of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. “This Was Our Valley” tells that story of injustice. 640 square miles of riverfront and hunting territory would be flooded to form Williston Lake. The Sekanni peoples were driven from their ancestral homeland in northeastern British Columbia, Canada and dispersed.
The Shopping Cart Injustice
People, place and spirit
All were our relations
Biopeds, quadrupeds, winged or finned -
River language told us so.
Fishing rocks spoke the run
Where the riffles and the rapids talked.
Ancestors, dead and alive, told living stories where
Running the river banks, the children played.
The land was a book written in forms.
We made our mark with love, community
Fishing weirs, aspen dugout canoes,
Hunting trails, camps and sacred sites.
Always traders, we traded furs with
White settlers when they arrived
On the rivers Parsnip, Finlay and Peace at
Finlay Forks, Fort Grahame, Fort McLeod.
We added pack trains, teams of pack horses
River freighters, flat bottom ‘longboats’
For supplies and for mail delivery.
It seemed that we could live together.
Then one day a government agent said
That shopping carts were coming
They would flood our world
Water rising everywhere
Shopping carts with electric can openers
Full, fast to check out,
Shopping carts with electric hair blowers,
Full, faster to check out,
Shopping carts with electric air conditioners,
Full, fastest to check out
Shopping carts with electric stoves.
Check out, check out, check out.
They would make our rivers into a lake
We would move or drown.
Our elders did not believe it.
That was the only consultations!
Soon Saskatoon berries all under water
Next, the banks sloughed back to graveyards
Next, cliffs crumbled, and banks fell into rising lake
Houses of the villages slipped and floated
Coffins, bones and bodies strewed the shore
Where tangled trees, debris and more
Eddied with flotsam in the wind.
We wept for our ancestors!
We weep for our children.
We had to flee the destruction
Caused by tree grinders, D-9 bull dozers
The dam construction.
Now they want to take more
Another dam for more shopping carts.
Please stop Site ‘C’.
she carries the child on tired hips rested on chains ‘round her waist
wasted on freedom designed to serve a white man’s lustful desire
branded inferior as time repeats itself and the pain knows no end
a tattoo on her skin confirms her as chattel in self-righteous shackles
festering wounds of Apartheid resemble the foul stench of humanity
as her child suckles from an empty breast and cries out for more
they did not really abandon slavery merely gave it a different name
too sweet are the rewards of exploiting the world as we know it
division of labour and they enshrined her firmly as an illiterate pawn
her soul wrapped in skin and bones and her eyes like rusted steel
an empty gaze almost gave up on merits of justice from hollow eyes
camped in concentration of power domination she is raped daily
of her dignity while she ploughs on in fields of plenty and the dust
of history and yet she never gives up on struggle for emancipation
some got the vote in a rigged system with dice slicing the fortune
disembowled by wolves in capital’s fangs her innermost treasure
has become hope that succumbs to memories of her forebears
born into poverty and meant to stay there she rattles her manacles
in vain in defeat because leg irons and handcuffs are made from
diamonds and gold in the heartland of theft and misappropriation
when her child dies she carries another from the master’s loins
expendable and forgotten her tears are salty and polish the gyves
and just maybe might help to corrode bilboes and unholy bonds
because human emotions do not forget who triggered the hurt
outcast in a so called homelands or locations she requires a pass
to enter the kingdom of opulence in which she serves as a maid
but the young maiden has become old and dies cleaning their dirt
a stolen life is all that her daughters will remember with hatred
and when they rise they too will die by the greed of their captors
but one day the tables will turn and revolve in anger and retribution
20th August 2020
‘Apartheid’ in South Africa was the system of racial discrimination
Workers needed a ‘passbook’ to enter rich suburbs for work
‘Homelands’ were the allocated regions where black people would live
Their abodes where called ‘locations’ to sweeten the tongue of evil
as wars are waged in our homelands we sit out here gettin education for our
own future,
thinkin of ourselves, we forget about the whole purpose of our mission to
America,
we capture the American culture and forget our own,
we show gang signs and skip school instead of learning what we came to learn,
we act as if this was our own country, when we know we’ve only been here for
few years,
we act as if we know everything and don’t need school, when school was the
whole reason for being here,
we start fights at school, when part of the reason we were here was to get out of
violence,
we get on welfare and cheat the system instead of gettin a job,
we leave home telling parents we’re going to be doctors and get to school acting
gangsters,
we talk about making differences in other’s lives when we’re the ones that need
to change first,
we say we are discriminated against, knowing that it’s our own people
discriminating against us,
we watch our people suffer in our homeland on television and shed a little bit of
tears to make ourselves feel better and talk about different subject as soon as
it’s over,
we are cared for, more than we care about ourselves and each other,
when something occurs in a country where we benefit from, we focus on that
country till everything is situated,
but if it occurs in our homeland where no benefit comes from, we turn our cheeks
and ignore it as if it never happened,
we are convinced to believe what we see on television,
we talk about freedom, opportunity, and justice but really when the number one
thing that matters the most is money,
money is not only used but also worshiped due to the fact that you can buy out
laws,
how could there be an equal opportunity when only the rich get richer off the poor
and the poor are left to survive on what they can and then thrown in jail for trying
to stay alive,
we watch the news to only see the negativity of our surroundings,
we talk about the future of our next generations but disrespect them about their
knowledge,
we call our country “United States of America,” while we terrorize one another,
where is the unity in that?
how can we unite when we think so far apart?
how can we make a difference without changing oneself?
what makes us who were are, also makes us an enemy,
who do you think is “we” when I say we
Form:
The Trail Of Tears.
.
The snow fell when the long knifes came
Savages who robbed the sacred homelands
And buffalo slaughtered bloody plains
Men woman and children the old and lame
Frog marched against their will
Never to see they’re homeland again
They’re hearts so full of pain
.
And the big chief in Washington
In his big tall ivory tower
Declared the native American
Should live how he pleased
Even though it took the native Americans
Dignity away and fall to the ground
Like chopped down falling trees
.
Thousands upon thousands
Wounded souls resigned to they’re defeat
Walked the long trail of tears
With their little belongings and sore feet
Many sick and old
Succumbed to hunger illness and the cold
Countless frozen bodies lay like ice blocks
Littering the snow
The big chief in Washington
Won the days and the demon sold his soul
.
From the prosperous green Caroline's
To Oklahoma and apathy
By a mad cruel man’s greed
And decree
.
Forced to become farmers
When just a dust bowl is all they found
And nothing would grow from the ground
A once proud mighty nation
Did an ancestral dance
Hopeful it would return them
To they’re scared homelands
As hunters and the buffalo
Would again return given half a chance
.
They’re dreams were fruitless
And lost forever in the river of dreams
The depths of they’re sorrow so deep
That haunted they’re waking hours
And the one’s they’d sleep
.
They sent the young ones to schools in New York
To be educated in the white man’s ways
While those left behind
In the reserve concentration camps
Wandered like ghosts in limbo
And rotted in their graves
.
The wheel of history rotates
But the same things always come around
The person with the biggest stick
Lays the law down
.
The black man kidnapped from his home
And shipped to be sold as slaves
When will all this end
And when will man love everyone
No matter who they be
But the truth is many don’t care
And all they are concerned about
Is themselves power and greed
.
Thousands upon millions of stories
Never to be told
Lost forever
Since days of old
Man cannot even
Direct his own footstep
So the good book says
There is no real justice and we are living in
The last days.
.
Peter Dome©2021.
The Knight
There once was a man, bravery beyond all compare
Bound to a king and kingdom, to the people in despair
Past battles to honour his king and his homelands
Willingly to lay down his life for all the many clans
His armour chinked, remnants of battles long ago
His sword in its sheave, ready to defeat any foe
His trusty steed, a long friendship, has been earned
His honour never falters, ones greatness , be yearned
On a solemn night, the king seeks, his one true knight
“You my friend, my protector, my one true guiding light
“My kingdom cries out to me, do you hear her distain
You are her servant, and of all your knights that remain “
“There is this evil that threatens, means to kill and destroy
“These marauding clans, many lands, many hoards to deploy “
“We must stand now, raise our swords, show we stand tall”
He cries "Today we shall live or we die", for the good of all”
"We must ride out to meet these ungodly, unworthy hoard
Let our bravery, feel their defeat with our blood stain swords
Each of us knights, swore an allegiance to God and our king
Now is the time, fight for the honour and glory that shall bring"
Such a battle, never seen in many of years past
Fighting for the honour, for the kingdom to last
Each knight wields their sword, victory seems
The one true knight, hearing the death screams
He stands tall in the saddle, seeing all the bloodshed
His knights stand true, lost in a field of crimson red
When an errant spear, somehow finds it's one mark
He falls from his steed, blood flows it's reddish dark
Knights kneel at his side, seeing death approach their brother
All of his warriors, humbly pay homage to a general like no other
They raise and carry his body and his sword
To honour his bravery, for his king and his lord
A king strangely kneels before his fallen knight
As if he lost his only son, sorrow lost in twilight
He stands, looks upon his people and he cries
“This my truest knight, his life, what does it symbolize “
All the kingdom pay homage to their fallen son
Raise banners, tell tales, sing songs of the one
The one true saviour, to our hearts remain anew
To our brave heart, his soul shall remain true
We shall over come!
Today, Today!
We shall over come!
Right now! Right away!
We shall always over come!+++
All of us Christians soldiers in the
Lord Jesus Christ!
Are enrolled in the peace keeping
Army of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ! +++
Together, in His Holy name,
We shall become
Victorious! Victorious!
Jesus Christ is Glorious!+++
We shall put on all the Armour
Of our Commander
In Chief
In all these perilous times
Which try our very souls!+++
Which try the souls of men and women!
"With the flag of freedom going on before!
"Going on before!"
(Going on before!)+++
Praying for the resurrection of
Christian liberty and Personal
Religious Freedom in our
Beloved homelands today!++
We are the Lord's own army
Speaking words
Of Spiritual encouragement
Practicing acts of Compassion+++
To all of our
Sisters and our brothers
In the Lord Jesus Christ!
We must pray with all our might!
We must keep the Faith Alive!
We need to unit together as people of
The Lord Jesus Christ: But not
Through riots, looting's, shootings,
Not through acts of Discrimination!
Property destruction! Ruination!
Mayhem and Murder! Weapons
Of Warfare including guns and
Knives etc+++
And acts of insurrection caused by
Acts of Communism! And Acts
Terrorism! But by
Acts of: Courage, Boldness,
Mercy and Kindness!+++
Effectual prayer! And acts of
Holiness, Love and Hope
Faith, Truth, Justice and Joy!
Forgiveness and Encouragement!+++
We are the arms and the legs of Jesus
Christ
Let us use words, thoughts, and deeds
Of bold acts of righteous redemption!
We need to assist and to help people! +++
As we pray for a spiritual rival
In our beloved home lands
Right this very minute in time!
Let us pray for spiritual
Renewal and Restoration!+++
"Spread the Love of Jesus Christ!
All over the world, all around
The world. So others may know
We are Christians by our love,
By our love...+++
In Christ Jesus Holy Name!
Roxanne Lea Dubarry
Roxy Lea 1954
Roxy Lea 1954/ October Country
February 15, 2021
"We must love our neighbors as
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are messages
Were written with an encrypted language
And need deciphering
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are words
Were written with all languages
And need reading
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are scattered dreams
Were robbed from the years of the life
And never come true
Only when the love shines in the hearts
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are a silent call
Only the familiar souls can hear it
The secret of its silence is still unknown
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are sharp arrows
Were made of senses and feelings
That are hitting hearts
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are migratory souls
Looking for homelands
All borders were closed in their faces
Till shining the sun of freedom
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are dresses and shrouds
Were woven from threads of the destiny
For showing the suffering of the humans
To know that sadness and joy will end in the grave
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are spells and talismans
Were written from the whispers of the devils
Uncovered the tricks of witches and charlatans
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are shy sighs
Were imprisoned unjustly in depths of the chests
Escaped from the dark prisons
Looking for remains of happiness in luminous prisons
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are hymns and prayers
Were written their tunes from the lights of angels
For curbing the desires and the lusts of sinners
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are stories and novels
Were written from the bloods of innocents
They are still without ends
Until the hope begins with writing the conclusion
Tears are not just drops
That fall from the eyes
Tears are white doves
Were created from the love
For spreading the peace
The past got a wet way of coming back
to unsettle the present
with haunting future dreams
Who moistened the bed
with such troublesome memories?
There are dark terrors in the night
for the children
of those whose fathers ignited the fright
Colonialism terrorism days
are washing back on the European shores
Time has run out,
there is no safe refuge anymore
Every land that the northern explorers
set sail to wind,
they built forts along the coastline
everywhere their war ships would dock in
Anglo manifesto: the world was theirs to claim —
every land discovered
was stamped with an European name
Greeting the natives with a peace pipe and a gun,
broken arrow friendship treaties
was how the New World was won
Centuries of taking colonial buried treasures
back to their homelands
left flotsam floating on the sea ...
a trailing legacy of perpetual Third World poverty
Cattle prodding the subjugated people
with grazing dreams of freedom,
only made them yearn
to be loosed from their colonial yoke
But their constitution was too weak
to stomach such rich hypocrisy
Therefore they could never break free
Until the winds of time
sent most of the conquerors away,
returning to their own lands permanently
Now the stormy waves of their past sins
have come crashing back on their shores again
New Age terrorism comes
with the waves of refugees now streaming in,
unhinging the doors of democracy
Fear was the face of colonialism terrorism
reflecting off the surface of the seven seas
Horror hollowed the eyes
that witnessed such degradation and misery
Those unclean waves are washing ashore salty tears
from long ago grief foaming years ...
And the human sharks have now followed the bloody trail,
back to the places where the children of the oppressors dwell
As waves of stolen heritage debris
washes upon the European shores
Dirty causality of the dark reality from the past,
can’t clean the wet night terror dreams
that the children of privilege now have
Remember That We Are BEAUTIFUL
As humans, we actively help others…ALTRUISTICALLY.
Benevolently relieving burdens pleasing…BIG-HEARTEDLY.
Celestial hoping rewards souls with inner strength's…CALM!
Divine inspirations amaze; its wonder delivers mountains of DELIGHTS.
Extraordinary and ordinary folks co-exist intrinsically…EQUAL.
Faithful followers of the inner voice, solve conflicts with…FAIRNESS.
Generous gifts of which the Creator deems us worthy generates…GOODNESS
Happily, we comfort our friends and show compassion, healing…HEARTS
Individual industriousness provides direction…INDELIBLY.
Justice, when hearing the errant, seeks not revenge… JOYOUSLY.
Karma, led by spiritual energy, directs paths through life…KISMET.
Long-suffering and persistence charm leads sinners to heaven's …LOVES!
Mysteries uncovered feed curiosity, making man smarter…MARVELS
Notwithstanding sacrifice, we do favors for friends…NECESSARILY.
Offering our allegiances, we defend our homelands…OBEDIENTLY.
People inspired, promulgate principals to live by…PEACEFULLY.
Questioning selves and reality in order to improve…(getting better) QUARELLESSING.
Remembering and respecting other's feelings and beliefs…REVERENCING
Steadfastly selecting supreme humility as a goodly option…SELFLESSLY!
Trusting many to choose right, we exemplify faith in mankind…TIRELESSLY.
Utopia as a goal, defended to the death, bravely seeks the right…UNENDINGLY.
Voices reaching out with good examples, void of hatred, overcome…VICTORIOUSLY.
We, the beautiful, care about the well being of others…WILLFULLY.
X-tra hopes, copious kindness, generous goodness, finds loves…XOXOX
Yearning for self-improvement through soul searching surrenders…YESTERDAYS.
Zealous living shines from within and befits us, beautiful mankind's ZENITH.
© Dane Smith-Johnsen
May 24, 2010
Poetic Form: Double ABC ...a touch of End Rhyme! (FUN!)
Let us sit and talk about all the injustices of the world
And how it affects us, and every young boy and girl.
We have created a world of insecurities and doubts.
Is this what life is all about?
The education is failing them, but not so much from the school
But because we have changed all the rules.
We have created an “I don’t give a damn “attitude
For all the young to see, this includes wars, slavery, and poverty.
How can they grow? When they’re surrounded by all of this!
Isn’t there something that we missed?
Is it the fact that we are supposed to set the example?
Of what is right and wrong, and make this world for them
“Just “and “strong “.
People have left their homelands to come here for a better life
Now they have to think twice!
We are creating the same things they tried to escape from!
What has this country become?
Government buildings are shutting down
And on the “Obama care “republicans frown.
The only solution that I can see is have the children run the countries.
Most children don’t know about bigotry and hate
Let’s keep their minds fresh before it’s too late.
They must not be exposed to the evils of the land
And shown the brotherhood of love that they understand.
Children will bicker and argue like all of us do
But they don’t hold a grudge and follow thru.
They may not know about finances and the bottom line
But they’ll learn it, given time.
They do know how to BARTER and it is
So much easier and not that much harder.
They say: I have a yo-yo and you have a top
Let’s exchange it and call it “even Stevens “or
“I HAVE A BALL AND YOU HAVE A BAT “
Let’s go to the park and play.
HOW ABOUT THAT!
They may have the answers to the problems that we seek
Cause as we get older, our minds get weak
We just see things in black and white, while they
See things that they know are right.