COMMANDER CINDERELLA

Her name is She Who Watches By The Fire
The flame spit sparks in a gutteral tongue
In an antique tale that spoke to her soul
And soothed the weariness that gnawed her bones

The Cultural War is a small river
That overflowed: genocide, education
assimilation, and animal rights
And threatened to flood her home one more time

The new battle was fought in the press
Generals of hate called for a race war
Against our Traditional, ritual
Ceremonial and spiritual life

It was their fears that created her
A warrior princess battle hardened
SAVAGE, a creative writing major
She brandished her pen like the fabled sword

In that discord she found her legacy
As enduring as our creation site
And place of vision-quest buried beneath
a dam to drive a mill built above us

Our bones broken and jumbled like their word
"As long as the grass grows and water flows"
Revictimization and eternal drought
We're still here, praying, singing and dancing