there Is No America as we believed it to be
as we have been trained raised taught to know;
US history begins in Freedom
Flight from Persecution
and the establishment of a Free Country
Free to Individuals Bold enough
Determined enough
Blessed enough
to Claim their Rights under a Constitution
ostensibly written to cover “All Men” in the generic
only excluding those Not Defined as Men
NDNs Black people and Women (Of Course!)
and by that Very assumption made the Ideal
Impossible to achieve
another account of the founding of US
the Dark side
that Slave labor was Necessary
that Red Savages Must Be Driven Out
if we can’t Cheat em we make em Sick
if they Still Hang on Invade em
Push em to Violence defending their lands
their grounds their territories
the source of their Food
their Traditional Ceremonies
their Homes must give way to US
Must give way
Murders Were Committed
our Black Sisters and Brothers
after their Liberation from the bonds
of Generations of servitude
forced lives Stolen
a brief heady Time of Real Freedom
looking around at the Possibilities of Everything
then Jim Crow flew in and the Twisted Triple Ks
and then Freedom only meant Free to Suffer and Die
dangling from a tree battered and tortured
at the hands of Hatred
hands of Judgement
hands of Anger at the Servant
Elevated to the Realm of their “Betters”
and then what would They have?
what do They have but the same Grim Prospects?
enslaved people Not Even Owned by most
who were too poor to actually Own a slave
but Aspiring to do so one day
a proper Goal for a Rich White man
and Now those former servants
Some White Someone’s former servants
Might be richer than you
more respected than you
such a thing is Unconscionable
Fly Away Jim Crow!
Free Leonard Peltier!
Remember that Water is Sacred!
Water is Life!
Remember the Homeland was Home to Others
before you unjustly drove out
penned in
hunted down
pushed Beyond newly Created Boundaries
of Nations
boundaries Never before acknowledged
in the world of hunter gatherers
you Go where the Food is
follow the hoofprints pawprints
find the bee tree
chase fish upstream
territory only defined by relations with local tribes
now invisible Lines are drawn through the land
trees and stones mark where you can no longer go
they signed treaties that were filled with lies
expressions of good faith that turned out to be Laughable
if you could stop Crying long enough
they signed Hopeless treaties
what else could they do?
That
or be expunged from the Face of the Earth
sent Nameless to the Great Beyond
Without Honor
there Is No America as we believed it to be
there is No America except
America To Be
© 2020 pamela twining
