To the ghost-dancers of the Sioux - dedicated to my good friend, Jacob

by John E Marks

Friday 1st February 2019 11:29 pm

Don’t let the fat white males into this land

They have no concept of stewardship

They think they can own the air and the land.

Watch them massacre the holy bison:

The white buffalo is dead

Their bodies rot under the sun.

These men have no respect for themselves:

They are rapists and child-killers.

They love watching sadistic pornography.

They spoil all the Great Spirit has bequeathed us.

They are a scourge to the world.

No good is captured in their web of life

Evil infects their dreams,

They have never learnt to just sigh and be still..

Comments

John Marks

Sat 2nd Feb 2019 00:44

Thoughtful response MC. I might add that the treatment of Native Americans as non-humans lead the way to the debauches of slavery and segregation and all the subsequent history.
The USA belongs to the native Americans just as Australia does to the 'aborigines' or NZ to the Maoris.

M.C. Newberry

Sat 2nd Feb 2019 00:32

It's easy to imagine these words being spoken by a tribal elder
(Medicine Man?) around a camp fire as the encroaching tide of
mass immigration (Manifest Destiny!) rose to engulf their way of
life. That past age was "another country" in its view of what was
seen as a "hindrance" to the changes that were considered to
be necessary in placing America with the foremost nations of the
world. The wholesale slaughter of bison was an approved govt.
policy under the operational guidance of General Phil Sheridan aimed at removing the source of sustenance and survival for the
tribes and ruthlessly designed to reduce them to starvation and
servitude. Its success is historical fact and whilst their previous
inter-tribal rivalries and conflicts didn't help any combined policy
of resistance, it is not frivolous to dwell on what might have
happened in US history in different circumstances - and how
world history might have been altered beyond our imaginings.

lisa donohoe

Sat 2nd Feb 2019 00:25

He had his moment's
But sure, dont we all (haha) ?

New Shoes

Sat 2nd Feb 2019 00:01

What a great poem, and with "Riders on the Storm" really brought it to life.

write on

and play on

Peace Out

Willow

John Marks

Fri 1st Feb 2019 23:53

Lisa. I bet your dad was a good 'un. The Doors have always been so good for me. John

lisa donohoe

Fri 1st Feb 2019 23:34

Speechless..
I have not heard this song since my dad passed away, he played it during many debates between him and his friends (lol)
What a pleasure to have heard it once again ?

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To the ghost-dancers of the Sioux - dedicated to my good friend, Jacob

Comments

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