The cries of a nation in pain,
scorned by the blinding hatred of a history long forgotten,

Silent thought whispering beneath the surface of a silhouetted pond,
stilled by a hidden hierarchy.

With the leadership of a brazen warrior, a false unity was surmised,
a moment’s reprieve from the ordinary yes,
but ever destructive in its descent to reality.
Like strings in a quartet, we were plucked to play our lamented hymn.

A friendly smile soon turned to the laughter of betrayal,
howling in your ears like a jackal.
Shaken and vulnerable, the herd disperses into the shadows,
attracting hyenas like a scattered carcass
only to tear more wounds.

The sounds of drums resound beyond the canyons of a shielding blockade,
the beat of ancestral drums drowned by the thrumming of thousands of marching feet,
leagues across the sea.

One voice reigns above all others with a persuading argument for change,
penetrating the torrent,
overcast with a beam of hope for the people.

Light pierces the darkened chasms within
unity driving the lost to their flocks.

A gathered people joining together under the wings of a soaring soul,
as a whole the journey of a new direction ensues.

Kari Eneas is enrolled in the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and attends Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT. She says, “Writing has always been a major part of my life, as well as band and choir. I am currently employed with the Salish and Kootenai Tribes as a Wildlife Biologist Trainee, and I will continue on with my education to achieve a Master’s in Wildlife Biology.”

Share!

•