They called it the black
snake. Fabled myth, or
maybe the better word
is predicted: the snake
slept under sacred soil
now awakened slithers.
The ghost-white people
follow in worn footsteps
of sea-faring ancestors,
they want the land, they
want the land now. They
want black blood pulsing
beneath the surface, they
want the snake conscious,
they want to reap benefits.
Fear in the eyes of belonging:
Fear static strums a quivering
skin, sheathing minds quick to
remember a people beaten into
submission by change, by force
of entry, communion and deceit
the injustices don’t change, are
never forgotten, the snake once
slumbered but the people knew
it would awaken, it was only time
time to come, time to re-emerge
to rebirth and rupture. a gouged
land is no good. dirty water does
not quench thirst. the blood must
be clean. America answers to no
one but itself, the name, the idea,
no people, no gods, only masters.
Dakota cries black. Dakota bleeds.
Snake bite white fang the people
weep: “Stop this, protect us, USA
remember the ills you caused us.”
Pained people bake under a summer
glare, a protest, a solidarity, children
glitter these grounds with free sound
the goodness of their bodies a sweet
staying, a sign of resistance as small
as they come, keep the snake under
ground. Sing it to sleep a lullaby so
Dakota can dry its eyes, wipe away
the dull blackness that crusts with
time, its wounds scar from abuse;
let the puckered skin heal, let the
tired people sleep, they stand so
that they don’t die on their knees.
Read More:
Dakota pipeline protesters confront the “black snake”: “We’re living by the fire” [Salon]
‘They Always Break!’ Latest Pipeline Leak Underscores Dangers of DAPL [Common Dreams]
Luna G. Reiley writes across hybrid non-fictive forms. Her work has been showcased by the DeYoung Museum and staged at Artists Television Access in addition to performances at St. Paul’s Church and Alder Manor. She is an MFA Writing candidate focusing on poetry at California College of the Arts in Oakland.
