What happened to my country?

On Friday, it was announced in the local news that a group had put up two anti-immigrant billboard advertisements in Denver. The tone of the billboards was hateful and derogatory. It made me sick to my stomach. Who are these people? Why are they so filled with hate? Does the Statue of Liberty mean nothing to these folks? Maybe it's time to take it down. If they are so threatened by what these undocumented workers represent, why don't they attack the real cause: corporate greed and a thirst for cheap labor, and unfair trade agreements with the countries of origin? It makes me so angry that I have a hard time even talking about it.


Geronimo’s Ghost

Geronimo’s ghost
still prowls the southwest
where Mexican and U.S. soldiers
chased him for years

Hide and seek in stony heat
shadows among sheltering rocks
places he knew like
his own copper skin

Every landscape wrinkle
and hidden spring
only an Apache could know
he wore both equally well

Coyote paths now lead
where Geronimo once moved
shepherding poor campesinos
through hostile territory
to life in a new country

Serve the whims of rich Americans
work to feed their families
hide out like Apaches on the run
try not to be found

Geronimo’s ghost
watches and waits

Where is the outrage?

It gives me great pleasure to post this poem by my friend J. Dino Delano. It appears in his book Soul's Breath, which he self-published. I have a copy, which I have read several times, and I have heard him read this before, but when Dino read this last night at the Mercury Cafe, it was like I had never heard it before.


MEDICINE MAN III

Ohhhhhh grandson

I care not about the gold you have
stored in vaul'ts, the land you say you
own.

Who's fences keep out human and
animal alike.

Your titles, and your storage of stuff
in boxes, only tells me what you have
forgotten.

I want you to know that from the bay
of the earth, and the silence that sings
within the canopy of rain forest

Comes the breath of your life.

Like a rainbow dove she sits on your
tongue and slides into the rivers of
your body.

Can you still hear the quiet voice that
whispers from the bosom of earht,
your body.

Do you remember how the river you
tumbled into as a child, cooled your
summers hot body.

And that sme water now quenches
your thirst and cleans the inner
arteries, Have you walked in the
wilderness where the city has not yet
stolen the darkness out of the night.

And there in the roof of the sky, the
candles are lit nightly by the hand of
spirits.

Can you let your mind be gathered up
in imagination and flown to the heart
of the galaxy.

Do you still have the courage to leave
the city anxious for riches

And be in the shadow of the woods and
let your body be gathered by the greenn
umbrella of the leaves.

Does the great spirit still send the god
of wind to play with your hair.

Do you still believe in the gods that live
in the skys.

That ride on the wings of hawk and
crow.

Or is your god now mental and no
longer real.

Have you forgotten your voice
grandson

Why has your mouth gone slack, who
stole the wind from your chest

Why are you not screaming

Who stole the rage from your throat

So that they might steal the earth from
your body.

Why do you in yuour silence give
permission to the rape of the earth and
her children.

Scream grandson, scream into the
woods, scream into your pillow, scream
unto your friends.

Scream away the madness so you might
once again hear the quiet voice that
speaks within you.

by J. Dino Delano
Posted with permission
from Soul's Breath, copyright 2004

It is a good day to die

Second Coming

Let me make it clear
for those
who don’t yet understand

I will boil it down

Not jihad
but Liberal
is the terror
the neocons
are at war with

George W. Bush
believes
with all his heart and soul
that he
is the Second Coming

To the Carlyle Group
the color of blood
is dollar green

Keep these things in mind
and everything that happens
will be crystal clear


King of the Hill

Geronimo had it right

Holding off the army
in the stony canyons of the southwest
Instilling great fear
with just a handful of rifles
He knew that ground
and it knew him

When you come for me
I will not be taken
If you try
it will cost you dear

Better to force the aggressor
to confront the question
of dying for his own cause
than allow the blood
of my own be spilled

Better you make plans
with the counsel and consent
of those affected
than face the labors
of pacifying an entire nation
of resistors

And should you succeed
that monumental and thankless task
what satisfaction derived
King of the Hill
in an empty land
with only your shame
for companion

Hoka Hey!

The Wheels of Justice Grind Slowly, but they Grind Very, Very Small

Bush's popularity is plummeting, his own party is fractured and in revolt over the port deal.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/27/opinion/polls/main1350874.shtml

Even the neoconservatives are turning on Bush.

Michael Ledeen:

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Conversation_with_Controversial_Neoconservative_0228.html

William Buckley:

http://www.uexpress.com/ontheright/

Just about any Republican up for re-election:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-portassess26feb26,0,5202745.story?coll=la-home-business


Tar and Feathers

Oh beautiful, for spacious skiesf
or golden promise and dream
for hope of many immigrants
for forest, plain, and stream

Oh Manifest Destiny
a thing to be plucked clean
a thing to rape and ruin
a corpse laid bare, obscene

Oh fortunes to be pillaged
mountains to be mined
portfolios to fatten
pockets to be lined

We the People living
we the undersignedt
he tax paying citizens
the ones you have maligned

We call you on the carpet
hold you to account
we who write your paycheck
we can throw you out

Don’t try to take us lightly
we will not be ignored
you’ll find your tenure terminatedt
ar and feathers your reward

"Fascism is on the march" -George W. Bush

Actually, the word he used was "freedom", but we all know what he really meant.

Excessive secrecy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/politics/21reclassify.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1140584400&en=aefb4d8fc1e315bc&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

(requires registration)

Suppression of free speech:

http://www.nsarchive.org/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060224/ap_on_go_ot/irs_politics

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/260424_spies22.html

http://www.unionleader.com/columns.aspx/Opinion?channel=139832ce-97eb-4460-bf99-b71df3b7f0cc

And persecution of dissent/political threats:

http://leenrage.blogspot.com/2006/02/who-are-detainment-camps-for.html

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0221-32.htm



Work Makes You Free

“There are always ways to fall asleep,
but to be alive
is to forsake the fear of blood
And dreams aren’t excuses anymore”
from Bleed Through by Joy Harjo

The alarm no longer buzzes
you have overslept
you can’t hit the snooze button
even one more time

A thief has smashed the walls
of your Neiman-Marcus dreams
and you will never be allowed
to enter dream land again

Even your Wal-Mart waking life
no longer belongs to you
you have become
a property of the State

You now live in a world
where a pound is really only half
where capitalism is enforced
with tear gas and pepper spray
and everything you see
belongs to the corporation

You are not dreaming
you will never dream again
because you traded liberty
for the security
of a split-level ranch style
V-8 leather buckets
9:00 tee time
central air conditioning
Gucci ski vacation at Vail
roaring drunk
Cancun fantasy

And the only thing you will see
from this day on
will be the words above the gate

Arbeit macht frei

Auschwitz
is open for business

Why Do They Hate Us?

Let me count the ways:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060227fa_fact

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Memo_that_warned_about_detainee_abuse_0220.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article346382.ece

http://www.newyorker.com/online/covers/?060227onco_covers_gallery

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/20/content_4202421.htm

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/022106a.html

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13880387.htm

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2006/02/barbarian-nation-torturers-win.html


What?

"You've got it backwards, you idiot!"I shout at the television
The clown who calls himself our President
claims they hate us
for our freedom
and not
for what we do
to their countries
to their cultures
to their loved ones
to their children
to each other
to ourselves
to the earth

Stop it!

Ignore What They Say, Watch What They Do

Today, George Bush will visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, in a photo opportunity to push his renewable energy inititiative.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/21/bush.energyfunding/

Right.
Last week, 32 employees of NREL, were laid off. Wayne Allard, our Republican Senator and Bob Beauprez, our Republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate for Colorado have consistently voted against continued funding for this facility. All of a sudden, $5 million is "found" to restore funding cuts (at least according to the CNN article linked to above). I have seen several different figures in just the last 24 hours, all the way from $5 million to $70 million. I just don't know what to believe.
In addition, the aforementioned Bob Beauprez, wrote a glowing column in the Rocky Mountain News in support of Bush's initiative for alternative energy:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/speak_out/article/0,2777,DRMN_23970_4476808,00.html

I guess he has to make himself look good, he is running for Governor.

But as of this morning, per Jay Marvin's morning show on AM760, not one of the laid off employees had yet been contacted about returning to work.

So the questions to ask are:

Will the funding actually be restored and the workers rehired?
If the funding is restored, will it be maintained?
Or is this just one more fluff photo op, all talk and no substance?

Ignore what they say
Watch what they do


Trust

Ignore what they say
Watch what they do
They say they want to stop terrorism
so they terrorize their own people

They say they want to create jobs
so they send them overseas

They say they want to make America safe
and sell their ports to the terrorists

Ignore what they say
Watch what they do

The say they want democracy
yet they rig elections

They say they want to end tyranny
then they invade and occupy

They say they want to make life better
yet everything they touch is ruined

Ignore what they say
Watch what they do

They say they want accountability
yet hide everything they do

They say they want a strong military
yet fail to provide the proper tools

They say they want to reduce government
yet they create the biggest ever seen

Ignore what they say
Watch what they do

Why do they hate America?

Sure, you can trust the government
Just ask the Indians


Watch your back

War on the Environment II

A $1-Billion Public Land Sale Proposed

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-021006forest_lat,0,1030546.story?coll=la-story-footer&track=morenews

The Bush administration today called for selling off more than $1 billion in public lands over the next decade, beginning with the sale this year of $800 million worth of national forestland.The 300,000 acres of forestland proposed for the auction block includes 85,000 acres in California, scattered across most of the state's 18 national forests, including the Angeles, San Bernardino, Los Padres and Sierra National forests.

Pending congressional approval for the plan, the proceeds will go toward funding rural schools and roads. Future sales of land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management would be used to offset federal budget reductions.

All of a sudden, the Bush administration has a concern for rural schools and roads? And, of course, he can't possibly find the money to pay for it anywhere else, than to sell off our national treasures. Heaven forbid, the ultra-rich give up any of their tax cuts, or we stop throwing trainloads of dollars at an illegal and destabilizing war.
Like an out-of-control alcoholic, he pawns the family jewels to fuel his continuing bender.


Forest

The forest is dying
No
The forest is dead
The Tongass is dead
The Amazon is dead
The Black Forest is very, very dead
The chainsaw is king
Weyerhauser rules the world
The lungs of the world have been cut down
and the forest is dead
How long can you hold your breath?


The Whole Earth Reservation

We all dance between earth and sky

In our dream dances
we see shining cities
and great prosperity
We see far horizons
and many buffalo
We see fat babiesa
nd many relatives
around our lodge fire

In our fear dances
we fenced the broad plains
killed all the buffalo
consumed the forests
pissed in the waters
and farted into the wind
Because we were afraid
Creator of all the universe
would not notice that we were here

Now we presume to sell
pieces of the sky
as the life force
from our mother’s soil
carpets the floor
of the Gulf of Mexico

Where the waters
can no longer breathe
Where the sky cries tears
that sear the ground
Where every mother’s heart
turns to ash and
every father’s work
always returns to dust

In my dream dances
I see the war chiefs
sit with the peace chiefs
and listen to their counsel
and honor them
I see the people
give thanks for Creator’s gifts
and honor them by sharing

I see Creator smiling
because the people notice
that Creator is here
and they are not afraid

Hoka Hey

Ed Hanson

War on the Environment

The War on Crows

Over the weekend, there was an article on the front page of the Denver Post:

Town under siege

Riverton, Wyo., is covered in crows. Huge flocks roost there in the winter months. So the mayor has given the police force orders to shoot the invaders on sight.

http://denverpost.com/search/ci_3517193

It seems thousands of crows have decided to pay a visit to this small town of 9,000 humans on a yearly basis in January. In typical human fashion, the solution decided upon is to shoot them, at the rate of 400 a night.


Void

There is a great void
a cavity in our collective soul
day by day it grows

It started small
unnoticed
as we moved toward the temporary
satisfations of the moment

Extravagance
indulgence
beame the driving force

Addiction
desolation
A hunger so loud
id drowned the cries of the lost

The world noticed
Threatened by us
the warning went out

Listen
The crows are calling

Welcome to Crow Poetry

Hau Mitakuye! (Hello, my relatives)

Welcome to Crow Poetry, a brand new venue for poetry lovers, progressives, and ???
On this site, I will be posting original poetry, both my own and friend's, as well as commentary on world events and announcements of poetry events in Colorado, and the Denver, CO area.
It is part of my personal mission: to help to make poetry part of the national dialogue. I consider the following poem to be my mission statement:

A Dream My Size

More than anything
I wish to write
poetry that rattles the Earth
and trembles the foundations
of human experience

I want to compose lines
that thunder across the hills
and lay low the walls
erected by the soul
to hide itself from the world

To wish anything less
would be to pursue a dream
too small for me

Some of the poetry here will reflect current events and contemporary life, and many other themes.
I will be offering poetry chapbooks for sale, both my own and friend's, and I will have an eye out for original poetry to include in a possible anthology, funds raised to go for a yet-to-be-determined charity.

I chose the name Crow Poetry for this blog, because crows have been a theme in my life, and especially in my poetry. My first chapbook is titled Crow Dreaming base on a poem by that name:

Crow Dreaming

Crows haunt my dreams

Perched on the distant edge
of my conscious mind
they call out to me

Whether to draw me
into some other life
or call me back to this one
I am not aware

I only know
I have been away
and
when I’m fully awake
they're gone

Crow is the keeper of the sacred law and the messenger of the great mysteries, the guardian of ceremonial and healing magic. Crow is a guide to new consciousness. Any time Crow is around, magic is also, and you are about to experience a change in perception. Crow is also one form of the creator/trickster god who made the world and causes mischief.

I encourage readers to post poetry. If I like the poetry well enough, I will feature it in a posting (with the author's permission). I will be moderating all comments, so if yours doesn't appear right away, please have patience, I am working a regular job as well. Maybe someday I will be able to make a full time living as a poet, but the record on that has not been encouraging.

Hoka Hey