Seventh Generation Wake-Up Call

Posted byJennifer PatinoPosted inpoetryTags:, , , , , , , , ,




Seventh Generation Wake Up Call

what’s this film, this
warped, filthy lens
we’re expected to view
through?    this distortion
was learned, ingrained,
colonizer tactics
adopted & spread
like a vicious,
soul-destroying sickness

who taught you this?
this use of devices
of destruction against
your own people
in the name of
revitalization,
reclamation of
skewed reconciliation

       I remember when
       a face didn’t
       matter if the words
       it spoke were true
       to the heart

in a vision:
an ancestor cries out,
hands blindly grasping
in a whir of confusion
because no steadying solution
can be found

Mother isn’t in trouble,
but her children destroy
every place they live,
eat, drink, & breathe
because of greed

       they talk too much,

take divisive action,

       half a step forward,

twenty-two steps

       back 

they refuse understanding
of their own tribal teachings
in favor of declaring
the other their enemy

          who taught you this?

hatred as a heartbeat
silences the Earth drum,
the songs of unity
are ignored

       they made us separate,

       cut off, & we

acquiesced 

in a vision:
another ancestor
with Seven Fires
flames for eyes
begs the people
to follow the light

       speak your tongue

& understand it,

       paint the whole world with it

unlearn their processes,
their quantums,

abandon their fight

remember who you are

Photo by Adam Wilson on Unsplash


Published by Jennifer Patino

Poet.

17 thoughts on “Seventh Generation Wake-Up Call”

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s