| THE PRAYER OF ISHI He was born one more son of the proud Yahi way Innocent of the history That destiny held for his name Ishi, the boy, became Ishi, the man And then, the last guardian of his people's flame For lost in the roar of " salvation's " arrival And drowned in the blood sacrificed By " culture's " first coming to shore Cold death came by way, of power makes right And the Yahi, like so many, soon were no more Then Ishi, the man, stood as Ishi, the only The last of the Yahi there'd be Alone, in a darkness so deep That few souls have known it, few ever will But just thinking of it...always makes my heart weep For as precious a relic to history left As ever the eyes of the world Could fall upon or give honor to But his glory, was a necktie and broom And yet by such, was sown a seed of friendship true So refuge, of a kind, came in his final years And by proud act of hand and heart He forgave wrongs so wrong they reach Far beyond repair by mere word or deed Let then the prayer of Ishi be; THE PAST MUST TEACH. ~ Anthony Sullivan |
“The Shooting Star”
Shamans conjured the voice
Of Nature’s nocturnal band:
Winds swirled in the Wilderness,
Time trembled in tribal circles,
rivers fomented in lost currents;
The Elements and brothers assembled Under a great cloud:
The canopy of plumes scattered
In wasted feathers on rivals’ hands.
Falcons and Messenger birds
Stalked the lonely winds
In pursuit of the Shooting Star
Sent by the great Spirit –
Father of the earth’s children –
To save the red man;
While Golden dawns draped
The brows of the morning sky.
Then a great comet beamed
Across the Spirit’s sky.
Like a thief in the night
A great all-seeing orb
Penetrated the virgin blue;
And the rainbow Heavens
Clothed for the shooting Star;
Nature taunted with one voice
And red brothers joined the fight;
The hunt branded in the fire
Swelled the Nations heart;
The Hunter and his blood brother
Chased the quarry with one snare;
They smoked the pipe in freeman’s fusion,
their beads music in the great thunder;
For the rainbow nations were on the march:
Warriors roamed to its source!
And the shooting Star
Lit up the earth of red man
and flashed the rainbow dawn
with the glance of an eagle’s span;
Earthquakes called men to action
And hearts strode the delirious sun,
For the bright, bright Star
Shielded his ‘braves’ from the deafening hum;
A Star shooting with breakneck speed
Inner sanctums by first dawn;
The Tepee’s beacon in the fields
And the Wigwam’s flame foamed;
And the rainbow nations marched on
In the silken shades of the dawn
In one united balmy breath
Of body, limb, soul and kin:
Shawnees, Potawatomis, Kickapoos,
Iroquois, Creek, Ojibwas, Ottawas,
Mesmerized by the genius
Of the wind eloping words
Led by the daring, deadly Star,
a dynamo firing in the ethereal bliss:
Fort Mims, Miami, Detroit, flung far
From the spasms of the rainbow nations;
THIS WAS TECUMSEH’S MASTER PLAN
Oh! The glory of the Shooting Star!
~ Robert McElroy 12/2/2002
*For Tecumseh, the legendary Native American leader who was a Bruce-like figure uniting the indigenous nations. He was tragically killed at just 46 years of age when he was still building his monumental dream!*
Prayer to Earth Mother She Wondered Why
Earth Mother, you are the sacred feminine, the female aspect of the universe. Open your arms and embrace me. Send the the healing force of nature to be my companion. Raise my spirit with your nurturing presence. Guide my feet as I walk on your fertile ground. Unite me with the spirit that moves in all things. Show me the path of "The Red Road." Balance my body mind and soul, and ground me in your love, mercy, and compassion. Give me the strength to move upward like a seedling making it's way to the sun. Calm and clear my mind like the surface of a smooth pond. Give me a firm foundation like the majestic mountains that endure through the ages. Make my heart soft like the snowflakes that fall from the misty clouds of your breath. Protect and shelter me like a bear in its cave of hibernation. Renew me like the cherry blossoms of spring. I honor you for your wisdom and thank you for it. May I be one with all that is your creation.
-Thunderhands
If I am so different
Can you tell me why?
If I am so different
Is there not still a place for me?
My eyes may touch my face differently than yours.
My hair may shine deeper than the black sand that glistens.
My skin though silky is a different shade or hue…
One that is darker than yours
Older than yours
Filled with a heritage that
you cannot claim.
You may take blame
You may show no mercy
You may feel shame
You may not care
You may want to hurt
You may want to reconcile
Or
You may not be any of these
things but more…
If I am so different
Can you tell me why?
I know why
I celebrate why
I will triumph over every
obstacle put in my way.
But wouldn’t it just be easier
For us, you and me...
To ask, to listen, & try to understand?
If I am so different,
Can you tell me why?
~ Cloud Dancer