literature

Rushmore Redux

Deviation Actions

jimfleming's avatar
By
Published:
490 Views

Literature Text

I had wanted to help with Ziolkowski's art
I had wanted to honor Crazy Horse
They only wanted dynamite experts
And heavy equipment operators

His maquette points to the Black Hills
An impolite usage of an index finger
Crazy Horse cannot protest,
But his great grand children can

Standing Bear went off the reservation
No council meetings or powwow
A surprise attack on the Black Hills
Rushmore redux of a Red Man

Custer's corpse with pierced ear drums
Still doesn't hear
Andrew Myrick said "Let them eat grass!"
His dead mouth stuffed with it

The crime, on going
American natives still feel steel
Conquistadores shed their armor for
Business suits, but the gold remains

Where are the straight tongues?
Treaties and smallpox blankets
White men are very good at marketing
The Great Spirit knows this
an old memory...
© 2012 - 2024 jimfleming
Comments23
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
xlntwtch's avatar
:+favlove:
Everything you wrote here is right [and also so very wrong] against both America's natives.
Perhaps more in North America, I don't know, but I do know many U.S. Indians, family, and the "native still feel steel" and wonder "Where are the straight tongues?" I know the sign language to warn another U.S. Indian of a lie, and it doesn't look anything like a straight tongue. I wish I knew you more. I must read more. Thank you.