Creator Prayer

The Creator Prayer

One man stands alone in a crowd

With a great woman by his side,

He is praying for an answer

And to show the world what is on his mind.

He is Strength, he is wise.

Our children are crying,

Our women are dying.

The past has got a hold of us.

Our earth is suffering,

At the hands of society

Forgotten words of a generation

Protect our earth until the end of time.

We are one voice in a land so big.

We come together to listen to prayer

And light a fire to the Creator.

In all four corners of the earth

Will we survive and touch the sky?

Or will we see the sun burn and die.

Our waters are polluted

Drinking water diluted

Our earth is crying,

Our earth is dying.

We ask for patience,

We ask for vision

We ask for direction and passion.

We honor our Creator

And our family

We will continue to pray

That we can go on another day.

Written by Mary Lou Janiga on February 9, 2013 at 6:51pm.

Happy Love Day

Happy Love Day

A piece of me

Goes out to you

When I write it from
The heart

I just wanted to say

You have made my day

With hearts and love

And all that gushy stuff

I am glad that you are

My friend.

Online or in person

I look forward

To chatting or talking

On the phone

That’s why I decided to

Write this poem.

To thank you

And to say I love you.

 

Written by Mary Lou Janiga on February 1, 2006

MY DESTINY

MY DESTINY

Four women had a voice

They did not have a choice

Fight for our land and our dignity

Don’t take away our rights, please no pity.

Just three words that took off like a bullet

Idle No More

There were rallies, sit INS and education

To fight for the rights of the Indian

Chiefs joined forces from across this nation

To bring a voice to the cause

Our people are homeless, in a land of riches

Our people are dying at the hands of society.

Poverty and strife, our children are our future.

A hunger strike gained national media attention

44 days was her struggle.

A small voice and a warrior in the midst of despair

Prayers were given to the Creator

Save the earth, stop hurting our people.

For 200 years society has tried to take away

The Indian from the child

And created residential schools

Forgotten children that never came home

Voiceless, homeless people that are still lost.

The fight is not over

It has only just begun.

Remember the children,

Remember our creator

We have a destiny and a future.

I am one small voice in a land of 30 million

Living on turtle Island

Talking to the creator and the earth

My people are strong,

We are where we belong.

Written by Mary Lou Janiga on January 24, 2013 at 3:45pm.

I am idle no more

I am Idle No More

I have not written poetry in such a long while

To put my heart on paper tends to make me cry.

Most of the time I don’t rhyme as it’s the thoughts that come out.

I am lost in a world of stereotypes of the drunken Indian and mass media.

I am a lost native in a world of hard times and struggles.

I always say I want to make a difference.

I want something to hold on to that will make a change.

A hunger strike gets national attention,

But a native homeless woman gets a Welfare check

A pat on the head and told to go away.

A railway blockade and a highway shutdown caused outrage.

Yet someone out there is still lost looking for their voice.

Our society condemns its native people living in third world conditions.

They are called, “Reservations”.

Yet they fund third world countries

And they drown us with their “Save the children” speeches.

I hear the negativity and want to shout

I am Idle no more.

I have a voice, can you hear me now?

But most of the time there is an echo, with no response.

I am trying to make a difference in my own little way.

Give me the power to speak up and be counted.

I am an Indian, I will not be defeated.

You can take away my life and what little crumbs I have left

But you can’t take away my spirit which is me.

Jump on the bandwagon and fight for Mother Earth,

Clans from all nations will rise up and defeat those

That hurt the basics of our teachings.

Respect the earth, respect the people.

Respect the lost and help them find their voice.

Written by Mary Lou Janiga on January 18, 2013 at 1:12am.

A LITTLE BEAR

The words flow on the page

For a little bear in Hamilton

He lost his home

He had no food

Because of man

The order was DESTROY

The man who shot him had a heart

The bear Clan came to rescue and did their part.

This is a celebration,

A ceremony to honor my bear family

He is an animal of such grandeur.

For an animal to die like this

It seems like a disaster

He is a part of Mother Earth now

He never meant to wander.

When we come here today to ponder

The life and death of this little bear

We begin to wonder.

Is this the fate of all our ancestors?

Our clans and our future?

Will the government give the order?

DESTROY the native dignity

Or let the natives live…its their destiny.

As the bear is laid to rest

He is back home where he can wander

In the Spirit world, he can walk

With his head held high and he can ponder

The fate of all that is to come and the

Past that is behind him

Written by Mary Lou Janiga on November 30, 2005 at 11:25pm