Love and Not Destruction

Through the sagebrush Grandfather,
as a child I come to you.
When the earth is once again living,
when it moves and laughs and breathes,
I will walk with you.
Oh Grandfather,
when the earth is once more
more than just a cadaver,
I will commune with you.
I will lay beside the fire
this new living earth shall usher,
usher forth with love,
love and not destruction.

Uranium

Though June,
we still see snow in the mountains.
A spirit blanket to cover
the Spokane Tribe
that slowly dies of cancer
contracted from a Cold War gash
never fully sutured
seeping Uranium that poisons
the water, the wildlife, the fish,
the native chokeberries, bitterroot,
and the ceremonial white camas root.

Our Song

Everyone one has a song to sing
And in their own voice sing it.
Let us then be a choir of chords together,
For a blade of grass withers when cut,
Yet is a basket to fill when woven.

Where the Calves of Bison Lie

Amongst the xanthous balsamroot,
purple larkspur and shooting stars,
where the calves of bison lie,
the pronghorn mother beds and bears her children
beside the roads of man.
For the coyotes know the maker of the highways
is the maker of fire and death,
and they shy from killing the pronghorn fawns
for fear of maker's machine.