feathers

fences

fences, built to keep out,
        no gates --
        just fences
Camp Anna Mae, fenced
no Sundance here this year
Ruby Bikadee's Sweat lodge grounds, fenced
        no gates --
        just fences
Elders refused access
no prayer ceremonies

harassment, armed hopi rangers
constant surveillance
starve the people
        blocked entrance
        no support allowed through
        no gates --
        just fences
these
rangers waiting,
armed hopi rangers
there at sunrise
        armed rangers
        waiting
        no gates --
        just fences
trespass on their lips
a favorite offense

one climbs the fence
the one at Camp Anna Mae
smudges, begins to pray
         cacophony, the voices,
         yelling at one not stopped by the fences
         no gates --
         just fences
surrounding sacred sites
built to keep out
but they cannot stop the People
         these resisters,
         fighting to remain on their land
         no gates --
         just fences
many hardships visited
drought, harassment, impoundment.

voices arise at Camp Anna Mae,
those heard at Sundance 2002
Grandmothers arrested
        a night in jail
        later acquitted
        no gates --
        just fences
an arrest of a youth
only recording the actions
of those who wrecked destruction
        last year in August
        the sacred tree met a wood chipper
        no gates --
        just fences
Sundance brought here
for a wounded Mother Earth

still the BEAST continues
no Sundance here this year
but there is Sundance
         quietly held somewhere else
         for the same reasons as before
         no gates --
         just fences
many determined
no matter the obstacles
gathered together in one mindset
         refusing to give in to the pressure
         prayers rising in the desert sky
         no gates --
         just fences
prayers for the People, for the land
asking for healing, for balance to return

a call for direct action needed 
from the resisters, the People,
as many are turned away
        tribal members, the press
        the message to stay away
        no gates --
        just fences
but the supporters are undeterred
for still they come
unafraid of the BEAST'S threats
        the words of Grandmother Roberta
        ring in their ears, throughout Big Mountain
        no gates --
        just fences
things only physical
cannot keep the spirits out

the fence nothing more than an obstacle
one accompanied with the BEAST'S workers
there to cause distress
        harass the Elders
        and the supporters
        no gates --
        just fences
arrests, pepper spray, surveillance, capped wells
unending problems brought by the BEAST
one that never sleeps
        still the call for help goes out 
        and the supporters answer 
        no gates --
        just fences
armed hopi rangers still at sunset
the People continue still under siege

        no gate --
        just fences  

 




the wolf is my messenger






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feathers

"We will be known by the tracks
we leave behind."
Dakota Proverb




copyright © 8 August 2002 by louve14
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