"On Columbus Day"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ON COLUMBUS DAY

for Russell Means


I would teach this day,
bind them to a presence
and death. Talk about what it means
to make sense, to catch
one's breath and lasso
da Vinci's star to your chest—
"He turns not back
who is bound to a star."

I heard this today
in the killer magpies,
a fray of desire
for meat, for prey.

Talk about a Nation
of Four Corners, summit
of the heart, the stone
pulling through, a concentric
concentration, a talking
to Infinity: The Constitution
of a Star of Unity
in the Iroquois
Confederacy.

Talk about what we need
more of—some dangling
change, some synergy;
more love, more time to do it,
more Justice, more Virtue,
Fortitude, Prudence,
and Temperance—the Cardinal
Directions.

I heard it say,
"We are our children's past,
and our heart's can affect
infinity...a responsibility."
Our hearts can beat
for eternity.


c Lorna Dee Cervantes
10/11/03

*Leonardo DaVinci
*Russell Means - from a speech at the All Nations March, Denver, 10/03