A land mass floating in the ocean
It had always been just an island ten times wider than the British Isles.
It spans for miles,
Deserts and forests,
Marshes and valleys.
We had it all.
All we ever wanted,
All we have ever known.
The nights serene like a morphine sea,
The stars would wave and shush us goodnight,
A gentle wind to hug us tight.
It was all we had.
All we’ve ever known, till the smoke rolled in.
Thicker than fog, it loomed over us like a storm cloud.
Then they came,
Pale creatures,
Long and thin
“Wendigos…”
They said,
The children, my sisters, and brothers rushed to their homes,
Arms tugged and feet halted in the mud under our boots.
We hid in the safety of our home,
Wrapped and huddled together in the arms of a mother bear.
“They want peace.”
His voice crackled like the fire he had gathered us around.
Pale spirits, wanting peace,
It was unheard of,
Never before.
Only pain was brought on.
Small at first,
The first in their tent, coughing and wheezing,
We were shooed away while others cradled.
They fell too,
Shortly after
Every day another person tripped, only to never rise again
It had stated,
The end of all we knew,
All we wanted
“They lied.”
The pale ones never sought peace
We knew this
Secretly,
In the deepest corner of our minds were the voices that shouted warnings
But we stuffed it down,
Became the children who shook hands with buffalos
The red rain never stopped,
It stained all
Their hands and ours,
Everything bathed in the color of people
People,
Is what they called themselves
What they described themselves to be,
Helpless,
Shipwrecked people,
Their own land,
Their island was dying,
Overflowing with bad people.
They needed help,
So we did,
We gave them what the earth gave us,
What did they give?
Pain.
Pain is all they know,
They know no peace,
Generosity does not run through their veins
Only greed.
They feed, never resting
Always needing more,
More victims,
More power.
We the children who fed buffaloes,
Now feed the monsters that crossed the uncrossable.
We keep fighting,
It is all we have
All we’ve ever known,
“We’ll win.”
He said,
I can only hope so,
Hope that our land becomes ours once more
Hope I will be last touched by this red rain.
