Sculpture above by: Rose “Bean” Simpson
Here, where stood your earthen abodes, where you lived in hamony with nature, the voices of your elders rose with the night fires. It was a sacred chant, in rich knowing voice, as the flames roared, and you danced.
It was a hallowed blaze of enlightenment, warming you with the knowledge of your ancestors — the knowledge of the four directions. But the footsteps are but echos, while the sacred fire has died. Its embers now ashen, but still your hearts are aflame.
In a world out of balance, who will stir the fires of vision? Who will again ignite the flame of wisdom? Who will again dance the steps of knowledge? In this world so out of balance, we need your voices to rise again, blessing the land of your origins — the home of you, the original peoples.
we did not heed your warnings
now we pay the price
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2019
Kick ass, brother. I love your plea, your message. Yet I wonder if we have not abused and fucked up our Native American population so much that they cannot, or will not
rise to the challenge. We are the cruel, greedy immigrants, and to them, we shall always be so.
Thank you brother. This is not a plea of expectation Glenn, why should they ever do a damned thing for us, what we did to their nations was barbaric — kind of how we ignorant white people continue to conduct ourselves. This is a plea of honor and respect – and an acknowledgment of what an insurmountable debt we owe for what our forefathers did.
I love the power and pathos in this, Rob! A pity our ancestors turned their backs on their own traditions of stewardship and hospitality to serve their Gods of Avarice and Pride. Everyone pays the price today!
Thank you Frank. I wrote this as an homage and a much too insufficient apology for the ugly years of genocide that were the beginning to this current country in which I live.
Nicely done, Rob. I like that haiku that wraps it all up.
Thank uou D… 🙂
Wise words, Rob. Sadly, there are too many listening to (and believing) lies that come from the lips of their leader.
This country has gone insane Ken, absolutely lost its center.
Good point about the sacred fire having died.
Replaced by searing lies Frank.
This is like a prayer Rob. One we all need.
We need to return to reality and sanity Kerfe – we have lost our center.
I wonder if maybe we also have that voice inside each of us… maybe we are just too afraid to listen to our dreams.
I believe Björn, that we are very in touch with the natural world, our natural ways, and our sense of wonder, when we are young. It is ”trained” out of us and suppressed as we grow to be “mature & civilized”. It is losing this natural balance that we are born with, that creates all the stress, disease, and social unrest which plagues our modern world.
Powerful haibun, Rob. The last stanza made me feel so sad.
Thank you Sara!