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.