From the Wolves
When Natalie Rae sent me this piece, I read it to myself first,
and then immediately read it again out loud.
Some writings just beg to be read with a voice and a rhythm,
allowing us to connect deeper with what appears to be just words on paper.
Consider this when reading the following piece.
@rashashanaha
Before boundaries, barriers, or fences
Before sins needed to be repented
Before the authority of God, King, or any imposed hierarchy
There was a knowing
It’s depth deeper than coal mine shafts
It’s breadth penetrating the Spirit, and yet still more vast
Silent
And ever present
Staking no claim
Having no name
The rain fell
The rivers flowed
All 4 legged, 2 legged, winged, finned, creepy crawling had a home
The mountains and valleys were lush and free to roam
In the plains, herds of Buffalo
In the Forest, a chorus of birds
All creations found a harmony in the natural ecology of things
Fitting like lovers fingers entwined
Yet today, a blanket of silence covers the valley
Different than the knowing before
From the scores of death after the white man settled here
A scent of fear is in the air
Of a future unclear
Silence.
Because our brothers and sisters have been quieted
We have been killed
For our pelts
For violent play humans call ‘game’
For making sure things go the way humans want
This violence in the name of man having mistaken dominion over the Earth
for domination
In the name of manifest destiny
We Wolves relentlessly hunted
Rejected
The human heart cold, unwarmed by the fur of my skin
My kin roaming our homelands, like bands of hungry gangs
Targeted for our fangs, for fierceness to be who we are
Predators.
Like you human
But have you considered your shadow, your place in the circle?
Under Father Sun, moved by Mother Moon
Come look at your wounds left forgotten
Instead you spend your time despising the purpose in our eye
The balance we supply
When following our instincts
Or have you only been concerned with what you call the human race.
Building gears, gadgets, slides and ladders in the vain attempt to create
your own tower to heaven
To what end? But your own.
Ignoring the signs that your appetites are devastating, habitats degrading,
you yourself invading.
Obnoxious weeds, rooting in where ever you please.
The growing waists of cities and towns pushed us and others off our home
ground
Picked off with shotguns, like a toothpick tween teeth
Killing off keystone species, in the name of a technically and chemically
altered future
Well, we Wolves say your tools have outgrown your consciousness
If you worship capitalism, and selfishness
Ever increasing progress
You will reach it without the rest of us
We Wolves once were proud to hold responsibility of life and death
Honoring the seasons, the reasons why we kill
Take only what we needed, and there would be enough still
Actions rippling
Waves of energy travel through unseen
Trees breathing million of years before humans were ever seen
Start believing you need the rest of us
Trust
We are in this together
Trust the responsibilities of life must be shared.
Our Bee friends pollinate flowers and food, bring life to bloom
Prairie Dog people dig holes, homes to other critters, a sanctuary in the
winter
Us Wolves keep population of Elk Brother’s and Deer Sister’s in balance,
keeping healthy river vegetation, and overgrazing in moderation
Aspen our Elders are breathing, and teaming with life above and beneath the
ground
All a part of the symphony of life
Irreplaceable pieces
Silence one’s chorus, and the song weakens
Following the path you’ve carved human, and you will surely see
You’re selfish endeavors, powered by pulling the black energy out of the
ground
Will find you wanting
Wishing you had chosen differently
But nothing will hear your cries
Yet the cycle of life never dies
The salty tears shed, will find their way to the ocean again.
In silence.