Standing Rock

A sage tie, with spiritual significance,

hangs at the camp

Andrew Cullen/Reuters photo

I stand

with the brave warriors of Standing Rock,

who are defending the land

and the waters.

It is time

to take a stand,

draw a line in the sand:

too much destruction,

as the wounds of Mother Earth

sorrow across the land.

The oil gods are ruthless.

They rip through sacred burial grounds

without a care,

imperil the clean, living waters 

that sustain  the people of the earth,

in endless quest for More and More

of the Money God that rules

the earth.

Soon water will cost more than oil,

for its scarcity.

The once-abundant freshwater 

lakes and rivers are dying,

one by one.

Yes, "Money Rules,"

but "The Spirit Liberates",

and so the warrior spirit rises,

in defense of Mother Earth

on the Sioux Reservation,

where last stands 

have been made before.

Ah ho, warrior brothers and sisters.

I stand with you

in protection of your ancestors' graves,

and the living waters,

more priceless

than oil.

I hear you as you

make your stand.

"Send your dogs and thugs and pepper spray.

To help the waters live,

we will stand fast.

In the footsteps of our ancestors,

in the tribal territory of a thousand generations,

it is always  a good day to die."

photo by Jean Roach, Lakota

offered for Isadora's prompt at Real Toads:   Fire From a Different Sun: to write about another kind of fire. In this case, the spirit within, the rising of a people, in response to the ruthless ways of the money-mongers on sacred land.