Belonging Without Reservation

Belonging without 

reservation

how do we

put back pieces

of land and soul

displacement

how do we enter

a circle

with no entrance

in what orientation

do we pray

the four directions

to begin

our own healing

journey

the wrong turns

of relocated souls

hitting city pavement

forgotten red roads

how do we belong

based on 

lack of proper

skin color

and no language

to understand

the business

of being indigenous

in english translations

and exclusive invitations

the not fitting in

with sisters

and brothers

not being brown enough

happening 

to our own people

while white admirers

cut to the front 

of our life lines

the anticipation

of adoption

into any tribe 

that will name them

as one of their own

while we continue

to live 

on the outside

of quantum blood factors

created by government

benefactors

the colonizing plan 

to take more land

privatizing nature

eliminating indigenous

reconnections

of all tribes

lesser by thousands

than humanity cares 

to know 

genocides truth

of the americas 

bloody foundation

7 generations

pushed out 

to assimilate

the colonized way

implanting absence

as identity

the extent

of internal 

damage

living in those 

who belong

without reservation

raised in revolutions

of 500 years

and counting

growing up 

in realities

of man made

death 

coming for us

who fight 

for water

and earth

protection

the darkness 

when ash settles

a war paint

survivors wear

in tear stains

a life time spent

searching

for a recovery

to heal

in this realm

the missed powers

of recalling

indigenous dna

enlightenment

when traumatizing

reappears in

separation 

and segregation

how do we 

in truth

compensate

for eternal 

generations

in reparations

and reclamation

of ancestral land

and soul sorrow

the inconceivable cost 

in lost

babies beaming

women laughter

children learning

the ways 

elders shared 

storytelling traditions

a life force

energy

rising inside

fire to burn

unable to contain

without reservation

what became 

of his/story 

lying about our dying

dripping in tears

frozen remembering

so we could not feel

our way out

to empower

ancestors 

or one another

in life long 

seeking

fancy dancing

and ribbon shirt making

Shoshone-Pauite memorizing

her smile

the necessity 

in sacred sundance 

self and community

prayers ties

in Santee nation

reclaiming of spirit

in ceremonial

Buwah bread making

the importance

in sunrise offerings

corn meal released

on Tewa land 

tobacco smoke prayers

of Tohono O’odham 

en méxico

where the border 

crossed them

still standing 

to be 

counted

as belonging 

without reservation

in black mountain ranges

saguaro teachers

preach 

to desert dwellers

how long people 

can still be 

dignified

existing in millennia

of land identity

as a source

of soul retrieval

and prayer

vulture feathers falling

from sky

recognizing 

grandmother signs

to not be ignored

living indigenous 

extending roots

from deep within 

creator inside

all of us

learning the rhythm

in many languages

walking the talk

recalling the warriors

before us

to relate matriarch

longing 

in nature provisions

inherited 

identity shields

jingle dancing

for all our relations

we move on

relearning

without reservation

to reconnect 

ancestral star light

mapping

to find 

our way

home

as our birthright.

c/s TET