Short South Dakota Poems

the home of the brave
indian caves,exploring time
lets go.we can walk...

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Killer of dreams
—the moment says goodbye

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: July, 2009)...

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The drum beat of eternity
—keeper of the dream

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: June, 2006)...

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Editing Poetry...
  which face comes off the mountain?

(Keystone South Dakota: August, 2013)...

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One may lose his honor
—but it can never be taken from him

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: July, 2009)...

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“Fire of my words…
vanish like smoke
into a raging sky
Blanket forever
the memory
of my being”

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: July, 2009)...

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We die in the present,
but live in the past

Though the moment may claim us
—our memory to last

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: June, 1993)...

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From the Kiowa to the Cree,
 people sing and dance

Prairies ringed with fire
—a ghost returns at last

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: September, 1994)...

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The wolf demands
what the shepherd
can’t protect

A busy hand
helps the angry heart
forget

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: July, 2019) 
‘To Mari Sandoz’...

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My short name, my lucid green day
My South Dakota doll accent, my life-jacket
My worn through the knee blue jeans

A red ant 
struggles 
between the last two toes....

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The Black Hills are crying,
our Mother forsaken

Enemy boot prints
where moccasins claim

To live just to die
in noble futility

All drums beat in silence
—He Sapa in shame

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: July, 2019)...

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Can our culture live on,
can its message be contained

Will an eagle looking down
see the joy or the pain

Will our heritage run deep,
like the river that flows

To an all-consuming delta,
and the life force who knows

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: June, 1993)...

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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)...

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KAREN
mother, daughter, wife, poet
sister of Lois and Penny
lover of Brad, Skylar and Harley
who feels happiness, sorrow excitement
who fears snakes, our next election, snow covered roads
would like to see South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin
resident of Fort Loramie, Ohio
CROFT...

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To go in a circular, spiral, curved
Or crooked course
Breeze, zephyr, puff or bluster
Claptrap, horwash or baloney
Tornado, Cyclone or a disaster

No matter how you put it
If your vehicle stays on the road
In Kansas, South Dakota or Wyoming
You have more than met your goal...

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miles away from any town
deep darkness falls upon plains
wayside conversations
at the edge of a deserted highway
in solitude poets and lovers
new meanings sought
a blank page seeks its verse
stars and planets hide
the world turns toward light
revelations of dawn

August 9, 2021...

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Sometimes,
the very best informed
remain the most naïve

Cronkite
in 1963,
“Oswald Was The One”

The Mob sat back
and licked their chops,
“Bobby’s Finished Now”

As millions mourn
in false belief
—and Warren to mislead

(Crazy Horse Memorial: Black Hills South Dakota, September, 2021)...

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Gigantic pylons of wind-carved granite
Form astonishing pillars of natural wonder
Sculptures to rival Borglum's finest faces
Perilously perched along the winding trail
Punctuating the Black Hills with awesome
Commas of towering mystical totems
Where once the proud Native Americans
Roamed with the buffalo in blessed peace

written August 25, 2021...

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If you hailed from South Dakota,
And someone asked you, "Where you from?"
You wouldn’t simply say, “Uh, Dakota.”
And if you grew up in the hills of West Virginia,
You’d never be inclined to just reply, “Oh, I’m from Virginia.”
But if your mind is going to Carolina,
And you knew James Taylor’s home address,
It doesn’t matter whether North or South,
You’ll navigate your way by GPS....

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Rapid City, South Dakota 
I always like Fall best 
You can eat buttery pancakes 
From huge Ihop 
And Omelets 
And Toast 
And skillets 
And lots of Reese 
And Butterfingers 
And Twix
At the colorful gas station 
And listen to
Nice relaxing music 
On the hill
At the Mt. Rushmore 
And go to the Corn Palace with 
My friend Troy 
And go to the baseball game
And watch the sunset setting...

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Off to Mount Rushmore
To see the presidents:
Washington, Jefferson,
Lincoln, and Roosevelt,
Men of enormous stature
In the land of The Lakota,
Keystone, South Dakota
Fourteen years undertaking
Borglum’s work breathtaking,
With sixty-foot-high faces
Carved into granite outcrop,
One of our country’s
Most celebrated places.

written August 15, 2021

Featured on All Poetry's Front Page
September 28, 2021...

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Solomon’s secretive solemn sassy sensuous servants and songbirds
Solicited serious Somalian solutions simultaneously with South African,
Southeast Asian, South Dakota, and South America.  Squiffy, squirmy
Spiny specialized swordfish sent spiraling soon soared with sticky, 
Silly starfish wearing stiletto heels.  Surfboarders supposedly stepped
Over stormy streams to strip submarginal substances from slippery surfaces.
Sadly some suspected subterfuge....

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Created perfect...
  in your raising were you tainted

From self-interest and corruption your 
  waters darkened

In the distance you were lost, unable 
  to find your way back

From depths, where your spirit lies cold 
  and unforgiven

But the initiation of your ancestors calls out 
  from what you first knew

Holding in their hands the perfection of your 
  birth,
  —forever chanting your name

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: ‘Crazy Horse Reminds’ May, 2011)...

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