Into the badlands we travel with hearts full of infinite hope.
Ecosystem in this national park fosters four hundred species of life.
Sedimentary layers of pink, tan and white look like soap.
Into the badlands we travel with hearts full of infinite hope.
Oglala Lakota people named it land bad as they learned to cope.
Ghost dances are performed there around indigenous fires of rope.
Black footed ferrets are chasing prairie dogs who understand strife.
Into the badlands we travel with hearts full of infinite hope.
Ecosystem in this national park fosters four hundred species of life.
Written 10-25-2020
Contest: Pick a Title Vol 24 Triolet Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Categories:
oglala, travel,
Form: Triolet
We cannot eat lies
or feast on empty promises
No more than the bison,
starving in the desert sand
We cannot clothe our children
as we run from the Wasichus
Our teepees torn and freezing
amidst the winter snows
(Pine Ridge South Dakota: Late September, 1994)
Categories:
oglala, prayer,
Form: Free verse
Legend or prophecy, one cannot understand
Beautiful woman, a warrior pure of heart
A message to all who seek peace, love and harmony
Seven sacred ceremonies
Sweat Lodge, naming, healing, adoption, marriage
Vision Quest for communicating with Him
Sundance for the well being of people of all nations
Harmony and Spirituality restored in the fourth age
White, Yellow, Red and Black, mankind
North, South, East and West, nature
The re establishment of respect and honor
Miracle Moon, a gift from the Great Spirit
Her seventh blessing to all nations, Chief Hiawatha
The time has come for all nations
A connection to the Great Spirit
Peace, love and harmony
If only we believe.
“I salute the light within your eyes where the whole
universe dwells. For when you are at the center within you
and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.”
---Chief Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux
Categories:
oglala, hope, native americanlove, universe,
Form: Narrative