I measure time by color of the sun
Flaming golden white and crimson amber
And shadow print of the giant maple
Slipping across fields of purple flowers
You measure time by sequence of numbers
shackling your hand to the tasks of your day
How could we agree on a time and place
between wild flowers and ticking of clocks
Thursday, December 28, 2006
DIANE
We were wild flowers growing in the same field
sturdy enough to survive flood and drought
Needing no one to give us special care
Tough little rez kids with hearts of petals
Alcohol led you through dark city streets
To dance with foreign shadows on the beach
Silently stealing the life from your blood
He sent you home with a handful of days
Death picked you too early for his bouquet
A blazing wild poppy growing in sand
I missed your wake but sent purple flowers
For your big sister to plant in your stead
You waited in that place just beyond sleep
"You didn't get to say goodbye to me
So I came to you one last time my friend"
Your laughter rumbles across time and death
sturdy enough to survive flood and drought
Needing no one to give us special care
Tough little rez kids with hearts of petals
Alcohol led you through dark city streets
To dance with foreign shadows on the beach
Silently stealing the life from your blood
He sent you home with a handful of days
Death picked you too early for his bouquet
A blazing wild poppy growing in sand
I missed your wake but sent purple flowers
For your big sister to plant in your stead
You waited in that place just beyond sleep
"You didn't get to say goodbye to me
So I came to you one last time my friend"
Your laughter rumbles across time and death
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
TRANSFORMATION
(FOR ANN RUSK)
Sun's heat ripples above chilly waters
Killer Whales leap and spout, circling to feast
On bright salmon returning home to spawn
Silver bodies heavy with wisdom won
exploring the earths cold briny borders
Sun and wind condense sea to vapor
Mountains gather clouds above ancient glaciers
Giving birth to crystal singing rivers
meandering down mountains and valleys
Salmon hatch and turn on impulse to the sea
Fingers of mist reach into the ocean
harvesting stories to paint a new sky
The odyssey of a single raindrop
From mountain to ocean to cloud once more
Is the same path traveled by you and me
Sun's heat ripples above chilly waters
Killer Whales leap and spout, circling to feast
On bright salmon returning home to spawn
Silver bodies heavy with wisdom won
exploring the earths cold briny borders
Sun and wind condense sea to vapor
Mountains gather clouds above ancient glaciers
Giving birth to crystal singing rivers
meandering down mountains and valleys
Salmon hatch and turn on impulse to the sea
Fingers of mist reach into the ocean
harvesting stories to paint a new sky
The odyssey of a single raindrop
From mountain to ocean to cloud once more
Is the same path traveled by you and me
LIFE ON THE REZ #3
(Election year 1996)
The Indian Red
Sun lights up the sand beaches
Morning tide recedes
revealing oysters and clams
I fill my bucket for lunch
Politicians vie
to be president of this
violent nation
Swearing oaths in the fresh blood
of the jobless and homeless
American planes
bomb nations made of sand
Tupac is gunned down
An unwanted baby starves
No one wants her anymore
An angel has died
Bones snapped by mother's own hands
Someone has raped her
No one heard her screams of pain
Death gave her wings to fly free
The president's race
Bill and Bob's great adventure
Pledges of vapor
What does it matter to me
I still work hard for my lunch
The Indian Red
Sun lights up the sand beaches
Morning tide recedes
revealing oysters and clams
I fill my bucket for lunch
Politicians vie
to be president of this
violent nation
Swearing oaths in the fresh blood
of the jobless and homeless
American planes
bomb nations made of sand
Tupac is gunned down
An unwanted baby starves
No one wants her anymore
An angel has died
Bones snapped by mother's own hands
Someone has raped her
No one heard her screams of pain
Death gave her wings to fly free
The president's race
Bill and Bob's great adventure
Pledges of vapor
What does it matter to me
I still work hard for my lunch
LIFE ON THE REZ #2
(FOR LI PO)
When you ask me why
I live tame here on the rez
I laugh in my heart
For I have seen the beauty
of irridescent red dawns
I held in my hand
A brilliant butterfly
That landed only
For an instant to greet me
And bless my hands with her wings
Four eagles circle
Riding the high wind currents
I pray for a gift
to soar high as they
to see the total picture
A family of deer
Eat apples from my tree
Gracefully stealing
Sweet crunchy juicy red fruit
Trusting me to be gentle
White clouds tell stories
with moving pictures changing
with the whim of winds
First Thunderbird, Killer Whale
Hunted by first giant man
Wild roses perfume
Early summer air with sweet
Scents of bright freedom
Growing where they choose to be
Living on sun and pure rain
When you ask me why
I live tame here on the rez
A lone cedar tree
watches the river flow by
And is content to stand firm
When you ask me why
I live tame here on the rez
I laugh in my heart
For I have seen the beauty
of irridescent red dawns
I held in my hand
A brilliant butterfly
That landed only
For an instant to greet me
And bless my hands with her wings
Four eagles circle
Riding the high wind currents
I pray for a gift
to soar high as they
to see the total picture
A family of deer
Eat apples from my tree
Gracefully stealing
Sweet crunchy juicy red fruit
Trusting me to be gentle
White clouds tell stories
with moving pictures changing
with the whim of winds
First Thunderbird, Killer Whale
Hunted by first giant man
Wild roses perfume
Early summer air with sweet
Scents of bright freedom
Growing where they choose to be
Living on sun and pure rain
When you ask me why
I live tame here on the rez
A lone cedar tree
watches the river flow by
And is content to stand firm
TREASON
Who is the recreant
to abandon our people
as the mama bird
pushes the deformed fledgling
from her nest
to die of cold and hunger
for money or approval
of bleached authority
to abandon our people
as the mama bird
pushes the deformed fledgling
from her nest
to die of cold and hunger
for money or approval
of bleached authority
BUSH'S WAR
Old men say it is the measure of a man
That weighs the courage in his heart
Like the price of an orange after the hurricane
It is the young man that comes home
With burned lungs and wild eyes
It is the young woman that didn't come home
They found her in a shallow grave
There was no one in that land so far away
to cry for her or cut their hair
No medal or free tuition for her children
Pays the penalty of our cry and ruined hearts
It is the language of sorrow we all understand
As the grandmother wails, "Why? Why? Why?"
As the father carries his limp staring son
From the dusty rubble that was once their home
It is our own youth taught to torture
Lead the enemy on a leash like a dog
So he learns his place in the New World Order
It is a lie told by the wealthy
As the price of gasoline
Soars beyond my reach
That weighs the courage in his heart
Like the price of an orange after the hurricane
It is the young man that comes home
With burned lungs and wild eyes
It is the young woman that didn't come home
They found her in a shallow grave
There was no one in that land so far away
to cry for her or cut their hair
No medal or free tuition for her children
Pays the penalty of our cry and ruined hearts
It is the language of sorrow we all understand
As the grandmother wails, "Why? Why? Why?"
As the father carries his limp staring son
From the dusty rubble that was once their home
It is our own youth taught to torture
Lead the enemy on a leash like a dog
So he learns his place in the New World Order
It is a lie told by the wealthy
As the price of gasoline
Soars beyond my reach
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