Smoke Control

We are the gaslit generation.
We were taught the problems of history
had been solved by the free market men.
Civil rights guaranteed for all.
Labor disputes settled.
The Cold War was finished; we won!
America tucked in, grew fat on the spoils.
We could relax and consume without care.
History had been hushed.

All lies.

Lies
to turn our righteous rage
inward and mutate
our luminous spirits
into self-involved
worker bees
who have forgotten
their sting
and the lethal
allergy
of their keepers.

Thanks-grieving Day

Conquest, brutality, and genocide are a part of my pre-history as a white American man. The stories of my people’s history that I inherited, are full of half-truths, fabrications, and assumptions of divine mandate. I am ashamed of the evils my nation has perpetrated, and continue to perpetrate against Native Americans. I am also ashamed that it has taken me a full 36 years of my life to finally take the time to listen and learn the history of Native American people FROM Native American sources.

If you are, like me, a non-native person, take some time today or tomorrow to write down all you think you know about Native American history. Write down what you think you know. Also, write down any assumptions you have about Native Americans. I will share some of my own, though I am not proud of them: