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Best Poems Written by Darlene Smith

Below are the all-time best Darlene Smith poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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21st Century Indian

It's ok that I'm Native American:
If I am attractive and half naked,
If I am uneducated,
If I speak in broken English,
And sing Christian songs.

It's ok that I'm Native American:
If I am passive and subdued,
If I smile all the time,
If I fit the stereotype,
And am not opinionated.

It's ok that I'm Native American:
If I suffer memory loss,
Don't want to know my peoples' history,
Remain idle and submissive,
And can forgive genocide.

It's ok that I'm Native American:
The kind that was in old movies,
Who said how and heap big time,
Make a mockery of tradition,
Sell out to avoid confrontation.

It's ok that I'm Native American:
If I accept my lot in life,
Stay where I'm told to stay,
Sit down and shut my mouth,
And allow others to think I am inferior.

That is what they tell me, 
Before they turn and walk away.
When my existence is their shame,
They refuse to listen and then they say:
"It's ok that you're an Indian".

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She Liked Butterflies

She Liked Butterflies

With a youthful spirit;
She laughed in the breeze.
Dancing in the wind;
Lighting on trees.

Golden haired child;
A laugh like sunshine.
Beautiful , free, and wild;
Artistically inclined.

One day she decided to fly away;
In a letter she said her good-byes.
When asked about her, I say;
She liked butterflies.

Her spirit now flutters free;
With her bright colored friends with wings.
Sometimes I think I can see;
Her… among life’s  most beautiful things.

In the summer when the Monarchs return;
There is always one in the midst of the rest.
Where they gather together in the wild mountain ferns;
Who appears to me as an honored guest.

Then she flies away once more;
For she was never meant to stay.
Like she did many years before;
To return another summer day.

Darlene Doll Smith

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I Come From

I Come From:

I come from people of great resolve;
With endurance to survive.
Worry not one day for me;
For I am my peoples' child.

I come from a tribe of strength;
Do not underestimate me.
We carry hopes within our hearts;
Because we are Tsalagi.

I come from a family of perseverance;
With nomadic tendencies.
My life is quite a journey;
For I get my courage honestly.

I come from a place within myself;
Of balance and harmony.
No matter the path that I am on;
So are the ways of the Cherokee.

Darlene Doll Smith

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Peaceful Waters

Peaceful Waters 

Peaceful waters;
flow through my mind.
Helping me;
to leave worries behind.

Peaceful waters;
stir my soul.
Taking me;
Closer to my goal.

Peaceful waters;
heal my heart.
Calming me;
While we're apart.

Peaceful waters;
where the Creator abides.
Connecting me;
As a spiritual guide.

Peaceful waters;
restoring my gleam. 
Soothing my spirit;
Carrying me to dreams.

Darlene Doll Smith

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Peace Prayer

Grandfather,
I humbly ask you to make my enemies have good feet,
So they will walk away as I do.
Make them listen to the birds sing,
Instead of narrow opinions of others.
Make them have good eyes,
So they can see from another's point of view.
Make their hearts beat strong,
So love will overcome hate.
Make them stand proud,
So they need not tear another down.
Make them happy,
So misery will not love company.
Make them secure,
So they need not take from others.
Make them have hope,
So they do not darken another's hope.
Make them honest,
So they appreciate honesty in others.
Make them confident in their faith,
So they need not destroy another's.
Make them love themselves,
So jealousy has no merit.
Give them busy minds,
So they do not assume about others.
Make them feel safe,
So fear won't dictate their ways.
Give them long and happy lives,
So happy that resentment never enters.
Comfort them when they cry,
So loneliness will not make them bitter.
Walk with them amidst life's storms,
So they continue to the horizon.
Wake them every morn',
With gratitude in their hearts.
Love them even when,
They do not show love to others.
And in all of these things,
Let peace begin with me.

Darlene Doll Smith

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They Call It Wounded Knee

They Call It Wounded Knee 

I came, I saw, I cried;
To the field where they died.
They call it Wounded Knee;
My peoples' history.

Bodies lying, frozen to the ground;
No mourners to be found.
Children still clinging to their mothers;
Laying dead beside their brothers.

The smell of death in the air;
Pools of blood everywhere.
Babies with their heads bashed in;
To waste an army bullet on them would be a sin.

Soldiers surveying their wicked deeds;
Mugging for pictures with the "savage" breed.
Celebrating the slaughter of the Sioux;
Burial is for Christians, but for Indians a mass grave would do.

Sporting medals upon their chest;
Saying that they conquered the west.
Taking the lives of an entire race;
Feeling no remorse or disgrace.

I came, I saw , I cried;
I asked questions of why.
The people of Wounded Knee;
Could not have life and liberty.

The answer was simply said;
"Kill the animals until they're all dead".
"Let my God sort them out";
Land is what it's all about.

The place where the mighty Sioux fell; 
Is a white man's hell.
Once was a place of pride;
The field where they died.

Darlene Doll Smith

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I Go

I go to the woods, to the woods I go;
To sit and be alone.
To listen to the voice of above;
to feel, to know, his great love.

I go to the creek, to the creek I go;
To cleanse in the waters pure.
To renew as I was at birth;
To pay homage to Mother Earth.

I go to the fields, to the fields I go;
To welcome each new harvest.
To be grateful for blessings bestowed;
For all who is born, and all who grows.

I go to the sky, to the sky I go;
One day when my journey here be o'er.
Until that day, I walk my road;
Where it takes me, I shall go.

May all your journeys be blessed ones. 

Darlene Doll Smith

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I Go To Pray

I go to pray

I go upon the hill 
to talk to Creator 
I need no building made by man
To pay respects to he who created all

I sing his praises
to the wind
I need no choirs to echo
My sacred song of gratitude

I walk gently upon the Earth 
holding a prayer stick in my hands
I need no collection plate
For Grandfather to hear my prayer

I carry in my heart
All ancestors who came before
I need no alter for a candle
For their light shines in my spirit

I raise my hands to the sky
Allowing my spirit to soar above
I need not bow my head
For I am not ashamed

Darlene Doll Smith - Cherokee

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Dream Visit

The Dream Visit 

It is in the shadows of the night;
When the moon is awake.
That you come into sight;
And offer me your hand to take.

In the stillness of the eve;
My heart beckons across the divide.
All I need do is to believe;
Once more you are alive.

And as it slowly begins to rain;
I embrace you friend once more.
Your gentle voice calls my name;
We are one as was before.

Your nightly visits within my dreams;
Keep me walking in a good way.
To hold you forever in high esteem;
I dare not ask you to stay.

I awaken and you are gone;
And though my eyes fill with tears.
My path in life leads me home;
Each step drawls us near.

By: Darlene Doll Smith

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Feathered Faith

Nature be my religion;
Prayer be my dominion.
Words felt but unwritten;
In fields of green and crimson.

I am a dreamer and a drifter;
A non–conformist, resister.
The wind is my whisper;
And the moonlight my sister.

I wear flowers in my hair;
Quote Shakespeare and Voltaire.
Have no qualms to swear;
Can make peace or warfare.

I prefer the solitude;
Depending on my mood.
But if a smile be the prelude;
Another may intrude.

The songs I sing are old;
The stories all foretold.
In tradition I enfold;
My blessings, manifold.

Two worlds, present and past;
Dwelling within the contrast.
Enigma or social miscast;
Artistry of life enthusiast.

Born to late;
To change the world's fate.
Too early to liberate;
Just in time to celebrate.

As storm clouds appear;
Between two world's frontier.
I look to those I most revere;
The prophet and the seer.

As we enter the eye of the storm;
The birds of prey become worn.
But in the early hours of the morn;
Sparrow's and crow's flight is born.

Center in the midst;
Find your balance to persist.
Take a hand, release a fist;
We're right on time to co–exist.