Poetry n Prose
Black Drink Ceremony
I am so ordinary.
My feet print clay.
My hands multiply fry bread instead
of loaves and fishes.
You stand still.
I hear the morning stars singing.
I am so ordinary.
My world is a tangle of virtue and fools.
My ears hear jingles, never thunder,
in the doors of the sea.
You speak, I remember
You once made men who parted those seas to start the long way home.
I am so ordinary
My shyness must hurt your feelings.
My life looks more like butter and eggs than manna and quail.
You smile.
I see.
You are your own amen.
~ Dawn Karima Pettigrew
Solitaire
An Indian builds a fire,
made from the dreams he once dreamed.
No more thinks he, as his hopes turn to ashes.
Hot liquid from a cold bottle travels down
his throat long grown immune to the fiery warmth of his
his long-time companion - Jack Daniels.
I was a warrior once, thinks he,
I took care of my family now long perished on this
long, dusty and lonely reservation Road.
He sings an Old Song for the Old Ones there, yet unseen.
Ghosts sing along through ruined trees,
their voices carrying through the wind
like phoenixes with black end wings,
memories comprised of tears falling down his old/young face.
Deck of cards ready to be dealt, Indian man playing solitaire;
sitting before a fire kindled by sad memories of old.
Looking around, and around - hoping that no one sees...
Indian man deals his cards, game of Solitaire beginning.
Again he looks around, good, no one is there to see.
Indian man, living a life of pain and loss, CHEATS,
in order to win a game he plays alone.
He takes a drink, looks at the cards before him,
rearranges the cards to win a solitary game.
He cheats, and reasons with the broken heart and
spirit of a broken man, cheating, cheating, cheating -
for by winning at least one lonely game,
the panacea of winning this solitary game - sitting before a
fire of broken dreams...
He realizes with a mix of emotions too heavy to endure,
I am cheating at Solitaire, cheating at Solitaire -
not because he wants to win, but rather, with
Despairing reality, NEEDS to win -
the foods and once beautiful Rivers
are dying of toxicity.
He is dying, too.
He is crying now...
He cheats at Solitaire -
just to dream again -
that his life is worth a little something -
even in this polluted place so haunted
by remembrances of Sacred Fire
no longer burning...
~ David Little Eagle
Afterbirth
My mother made a multicolored Creek,
From the days of the week,
In the arms of my father.
The angel on duty threw up her hands.
“You cannot expect me to watch such a girl,
Who will be forgotten, who will be lonely,
Living in shadows and loving in twilight.
You cannot expect me to watch such a girl.
Not when you pay me in sage and Cracker Jacks.”
Creator kept her assigned to her post.
Now, I am grown, still colorful,
Less girl.
I have given her no trouble.
She sits and reads at night,
Approves of all my beadwork,
Admires all my poetry.
She seeks me a suitable husband,
Whose angel is good at scratching and sofkee.
We go fishing on Fridays,
My singing is the bait.
She stirs sunrays and red flowers
To give me a pretty face without regret.
She loans me her smile,
Teaches me to make sofkee.
When I am mistaken for her,
She shrugs and calls this grace.
~ Dawn Karima Pettigrew
IT’S TRUE
A true leader doesn't stand on a box and say “Follow me, I am the one.”
A true friend doesn't run around telling everybody what a good friend they are.
A true healer doesn't tell everybody what they should be.
A true companion in a relationship doesn't test the boundaries of their faithfulness.
A true Medicine man/woman doesn't really want to be that because there is too much responsibility. Yet they are and do in a humble way.
This is the way to have understanding of what is true or not.
A true anything is humble, honest, and gives respect. The way of the true teacher does what they are trying to teach. Why is that? It’s because the best way to teach anything is by example. How can we remotely expect anyone to do something different than what we are doing? We get respect, honor, and love by giving it. It comes from the heart automatically, not by demanding it. Turn on your life, be thankful, be yourself in a good way, enjoy each moment and make happy. All the rest will be as it should.
The gifts of life you give will also be yours.
Mitakuye Oyasin ~ Lakota (All my Relations)
~ White Wolf
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