Minimum Energy Trajectory preparing for the land grab
resting state
not hibernation
den energy
a deep need
to abide-
sleep rest hide
repeat
eat meat
black drinks
sassafras
oske
not four seasons in Mvskoke
only three
it rained all day
in the center of the sun
a
chestnut moon
signal
yams planted
sub tropical zone
gifts all year long
make ready for winter
sweet potato clan
leave us alone in peace
a resting energy
propels
we plan for root cellars
put up the peaches
in mason jars
okra for stew
nobody counting coo
in
hollow trees
little fox
coyote
wolf
dog and me
we are actively preparing
burrowing into a natural cavity
a cave carved out in wet walls Chickasaw damp draws In cedar smoke
tin roof slope
sawgrass cracks the boiling point
oyster shells
love shack
ground down on the
fish camp road
a twig snaps
it’s in the middle of only
songbirds knowwhere
a sanctuary
protected
not pixelated
tucked up under
a canopy of mother trees
they do their best to keep a vigilant watch
drop drop
on our path-on the traps
on the bait box in the dry ice on the back porch
we lay out a portion
blue heron blessing
bald eagle
hawk
wotko loves brim bones
raccoon rings for division
night and day
leave out food for ancestors too
already ate up with missing you
moon sizzles
another thousand years a dilemma drum repeating
the others
thug it out
with grandmother in the board room with a feather truth
she will teach you
they want to
try to build
some
ticky tacky houses
in the delta
but they
can’t do that
as fast as they try to
hack it up
trees swarm
red dirt growls
night visions
swamp tupelo
bald cypress
yaupon
stretches across the creek scratch a cheek
wake! wake!
willow oak weeping
til the drowning man drinks
Chickasaw plum
sweet paw paw
prickly pear red blood
drips down my chin
a root recipe better than pills
silky camellia
bayberry soap
magnolia blossoms for sugar ants
even in fall
they eat
honey streams
we see a cottonmouth every other day here
copperhead dead
killed quick cold out by the shed
rattlesnakes sleep in warm sun spots
watch where we step
leave them alone
they don’t bother us
they know earth songs wounded warriors
we walk differently
heel toe
heel toe
we belong
frogs lead the rounds
singing their sounds
a good time
swamp guts rush
together we hush
satellite ain’t
shy crowding cutting
in on prayer time
with frogs
half cocked
we cook
guns rust
in the cast iron pots
in case we get put on the spot it’s a lot of history
we are always raised up with
what ain’t on the internet
our names are this place
owa is more than entertainment
radio wave on the rollercoaster joker
down by the bay
alligators drag a kill underwater while it’s alive
quick get rid of it
who do you sit with?
bite the hand that feeds them
belly crawl
tuck and roll
this is still
a wild place
y’all
elders
are hold outs
won’t sell
or develop
no matter what the offer is
some
big city slicker
concrete grifters
come goosestepping
in
I’d just as soon
chew glass
than listen to a sales rep
pitch Babylon
a power point presentation
desecration again
flood waters redeem
clay made men
pound them out into a bowl
strawberries for love
stick close to
the grounds
honestly?
sometimes
I really believe
the good ones can keep
it all safe
like this time
for real- no more bad stories
the old ones use nothing but ache
in the eyes
catch in the throat and lawyers they married into
the holdouts
ain’t got a word for goodbye
still- still- still-
look!
the others
keep coming
wade into hordes of stinging
yellow flies
waders and spray repellent
thigh high
bottom line
they ain’t afraid of nothing but not getting more
nobody’s buying or selling shit on the backroad
it’s all trade here
score one for the Creeks
I keep stories for Youngbloods
they
know all about Tecumseh’s last
Warning -
“Do not mix with them- I have seen- in the end they will destroy
EVERYTHING”
we disappear
go extinct
profit prophet
jinx
even if this
is a thick
dream place with
clear
survival rules
we can see the forest for the trees
so please listen
grandmother
I respect and honor you the most
I am not running away from the job you want
I am resting only a little
and while I get my breath back-
trying to catch some fish
for the deep freeze coming in June just
like you taught me to do-
I will think on
how can we get back land when it is consumed