Beyond Reservations

What does it mean to belong to the land,

To believe that your fate is borne out,

By canyons of sand, and your ancestors’ hands,

And the stories their lives were about?   

The Navajo, Utes, and the ancients before,   

Understood how the earth was their core,

When they honored the land, let it give them a stand,

Love simply repaid them with lore.  

Anastasi learned well how to shelter in caves,

How to thrive in the mountains and seams,

But when drought dried the rivers, no crops could be saved,  

Left behind were their legends and dreams.  

The lesson they taught goes beyond reservations,

We think we own land where we live.

But it truly owns us and defines our creation,  

We only can share what it gives.  

  JMB

 10/11/15